The End of an Era
by ZacJ4321
Summary: My retelling of the Akame ga Kill. Yes, I know I'm a scrub and should read the manga like the rest of the cool kids, but I just don't feel like it. I originally made this for my Creative Writing class and was told it was good. Me being the skeptical person I am, didn't believe it was and decided to get so unbiased opinions from you guys!
1. Chapter 1

_October 12th, 752 5:32 PM_

The rustling of the leaves reached my ears and so did the crunching of them as they were shattered beneath the feet of a normal passerby. To me it was clear this person had no ill intention, or they were hiding it very well. As time drew on, the steps and leaf crunching grew louder. Then it started to grow softer until it was gone and I was left with the cool silence of the leaves and relaxing autumn air. Once I was certain my unwelcome guest was gone, I leapt from my hiding place and landed in the middle of a peaceful country road and continued my way north, to the capital of the empire.

Hours later I had decided to stop and rest until midnight, when no one usually travels. This was when I began to look back on my past and take a trip down memory lane, and remember why it was that I was going to the capital of the empire.

 _May 20th, 745 2:36 PM_

I was ten at the time. Mother and I were fixing lunch while dad was out fishing for dinner. We were almost done when a hard series of bangs came from the door. Mother sent me to open the door, assuming it was Father. But I knew it wasn't him, because he always knocks in a distinct rhythm to tell me it was him. Considering this I stood in front of the door, watching it rattle on the hinges for several minutes. Mother was clearly getting frustrated that the banging hadn't stopped, so she came to the door asking why I hadn't opened it with a hint of anger in her voice.

I didn't move my eyes from the door while saying, "It isn't Papa." This clearly made her remember that Dad wasn't to be back until very late in the afternoon. Therefore she pushed me back away from the door.

"Shiro. Go to your room. Do not come out, no matter what." Was her only words. She said this without even looking at me.

Since I was a very obedient person back then, I didn't hesitate to do as she said. I locked the door, pushed everything I could against the door and hid in my closet on the far side of the room. That was when I heard the front door break down and yelling occur. After that, the screaming started. Oh that dreaded screaming, it haunts my nightmares to this day. Almost immediately after it started, it began to fade. I assume this was due to Mom being taken from the house. Then, it was silent. I sat there, eyes fixated on the door, waiting, hoping that my Mother or Father would call to me to come out. That voice never came.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I stepped out of my closet and slowly crept to the window in order to peer outside. I wish I had never even left that closet. All I saw was bodies everywhere and people putting said bodies into piles before burning them and my village to the ground. I scanned for my mother and couldn't find her so I climbed out of the window and hid in some undergrowth, not too far from my home. It took me a few minutes to find her, she was unconscious in the back of a wagon and chained to it. I wanted to scream out for her, but I knew that would only lead to my death, so I lay in wait. Soon they approached my house and without a second thought, set it ablaze. After that, they loaded up in the wagon and rode off with my mother.

Soon after all of this transpired, father came home, or at least what was left. He immediately determined that it was the empires' doing. He also insisted it was his fault they came for us. And to this day, I have no idea why. All this, ate at him the following year, up until he just got up and left without a word. Since then I've been on my own, going wherever my path leads me. It was nice, I made friends with locals and was even offered a permanent place in a few villages. But I couldn't bear to lose it all again, so I always respectfully declined and went on my way. This continued for a few years, until the empire decided to hunt me down for some reason. And ever since, I've been making my way to the capital to find out why.

 _October 12th, 752 11:49 PM_

I had a nap that lasted a few hours. As a matter of fact, it wasn't really a nap, it was more of a constant string of nightmares. Most of them were of dying slowly to a maniac or to my own stupidity. This led me to decide that I should get on the road, put the bad dreams in the past and get out of here. And that's exactly what I did.

As I packed up camp, I got the feeling of being watched. Not the, some stupid teenagers trying to pull a prank on a guy that's all alone in the woods. No, it was something else, something, with killing intent. When you are forced to learn how to hunt the most dangerous things on the face of the planet, you develop a very acute sense of smell and the ability to sense how things feel, even people. And this thing was feeling very pissed off that I was still here. Since, I couldn't just leave my supplies here, I grabbed my double edged sword and kept it strapped to its normal position on my back.

I guess that it took that as a challenge and decided to attack me. Then thing is, I couldn't see it. I could see that something was moving but I couldn't tell what it was. It was like the wind itself was attacking me. The best thing I could do was block with my sword and dodge away from what I thought were some hard hitting attacks. I was able to keep this up for several minutes, before finally being hit on my arm, tearing the sleeve on my coat and slashing down my arm. This forced me to switch to my weak hand, the left one.

After keeping up the whole block and dodge technique, with a lot less blocking and a lot more dodging, it finally got me again with a deep slash across my chest. This left me on the ground in a quickly growing pool of my own blood. Everything after is a fit fuzzy. I remember a guy covered in steel armor, from head to toe, leaving no soft spots, fighting what I assume is what attacked me. That's when I passed out.

 _October 13, 752 3:56 AM_

When I regained a slight amount of consciousness, it felt as if I was being carried. I didn't question it, I knew I didn't have the strength to so I simply kept my mouth shut. Eventually after what seemed like forever, I was leaned against a tree and saw three obscure figures looking over me. I recognized the shape of one as the man that fought whatever attacked me. The other two however, they were completely new. Everything was silent and I could feel the three pairs of eyes bore into me, as if they were attempting to rip me apart with their minds. Then the one in the middle knelt in front of me. I didn't say a word, make a sound, I didn't even so much as breathe in fear of feeling their wrath. Then out of nowhere, the person reached for my neck and I instinctively grabbed their wrist with my bloodied hand, startling them. I took their shock as a chance to show I wasn't planning on dying tonight so I threw let go of the wrist and got up using the tree as fast as I could. Then one of them spoke.

"Whoa, calm down kid, we're not your enemy," came the armored man. "Akame here was just checking your pulse, making sure you were still alive."

"Okay, then why are you helping me? And where are you taking me?" I asked, while leaning on the tree heavily. An emotionless, monotonous voice answered me and it came from the person I now know as Akame.

"We can't explain here. Too open and your wounds are far too severe to be taking our time like this." She said.

And with that, I was picked up again and carried off once more. I attempted to go to sleep several times, but was elbowed awake each time causing me to eventually give up for a bit. This didn't last long, I had lost a lot of blood and couldn't keep my eyes open. When the other three noticed this, they broke into a sprint, knowing that I was on the edge of being lost. That's everything I remember of that night.

 _October 16, 752 9:12 AM_

I awoke in a daze. Once my eyes opened, I saw several people gathered around me. Fearing the worst, I did my best to stand, before being slowly lowered back in the bed they had me in.

"You shouldn't move. Your injuries haven't healed fully." said a gentle, yet commanding voice. The voice came from a white haired woman at the end of the bed. She had her arms crossed, her right being bulky and made completely out of metal, it perplexed me how she could cross her arms at all, but my better judgment decided against asking about her arm. And also extended to not ask why she wore an eye patch.

"Are we sure this guy is him? I mean, heck he almost got killed already!" said a short, almost child sized girl that clearly liked the color pink. Her dress was pink, her hair was pink, and her eyes were even pink! Her hair was tied up in two tails on the sides and was so long, it was down to her knees. Not saying pink is a bad color, but there's such a thing as too much of a color.

"There's no mistaking it, that's Koge. Notice the large tooth on his necklace?" pointed out the green haired boy to his left. "That's the tooth of the Sukaidoragon. It is said, that everyone that has climbed it's' mountain, has perished. Except him." He said pointing at me.

I was about to tell him I hadn't actually killed the darn thing but the woman that I assumed to be the leader, held her hand up to stop me. "Shiro, may I call you Shiro? We brought you here to ask you a very important question. Will you join us?"

With a confused face, I simply asked, "How can I join you if I don't even know what you do or who you are?"

"Fair enough. In time you will learn everything you need to know about each of us, so I'll just tell you what we do and why. Does that sound ok?" she replied, to which I nodded. "We are an assassination group for the revolutionary army. You have heard of the uprising that is currently taking place all over the empire. Well, there is an army forming to join it, and we are a part of it. Obviously we aren't going to be in the records just in case though. We are Night Raid. We are taking the empire apart one step at a time and delaying their reaction to the growing army. We do this by taking out corrupt officials and the likes. Later, I can tell you more if you wish. But will you join us?"

After a few moments, and weighing the pros and cons of each, I came to my decision. "I'll do it."

 **A/N - As of submitting the first chapter, the story is actually complete, it just isn't completely up yet. I'm having to go back and fix some errors I originally made. I apologize for any mistakes I miss. Thank you for at least reading this far. Feel free to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

_October 16_ _th_ _, 752 9:20 AM_

"I'll do it." I said, full of myself. Three simple words, spoken ever so easily, would make for a very difficult statement to stand by.

"Good, because if you didn't, we would've been forced to kill you." Stated a purple haired woman in glasses ever so casually.

My jaw dropped in disbelief, "What? Kill me? Why?"

"You know our location, and we can't let you give us away." She replied, heartily.

"We wouldn't have killed you, calm down. We only would've kept you here, sort of as a housekeeper, or repair man." stated the leader, silencing the girl with glasses. "By the way, so you may start putting names to faces, that's Sheele, Akame, Lubbock, Mein, Leone, and Bro, we don't exactly know what his real name is, and he insists we call him Bro," she stated whilst pointing at the girl with glasses, the red eyed one, the green haired dude, the loud mouthed pink chick, the blonde one, and the tall dude, "and finally, I'm Najenda. Welcome to Night Raid."

"Well, thanks for the welcome and all but, any ideas on when I should be able to fight again?" I asked, hoping for an answer within a week's time.

"You'll be ready when you're ready, just focus on getting back to 100%," answered Najenda, "until you're back in shape to fight, we'll all be rotating out who helps you with your physical therapy. For this week, it'll be Sheele."

Upon hearing this, Lubbock leaned in and said in a low voice, "Watch out, she tends to mess up things that are impossible to mess up. All in all, she'll probably kill you by accident."

"What?" I said, losing my calmness and replacing it with nervousness.

"Guys, I'm not that clumsy." Stated Sheele with an embarrassed look on her face. As she approached, she must have tripped over an invisible rock because she fell and grabbed the sheets to the hospital bed beside me and brought it with her to the floor.

"Really? Are you sure?" asked everyone in unison.

"Sheele, I think it's safe to say, you probably shouldn't be helping Shiro here through physical therapy," noted Najenda, "Akame, would you mind taking her place?"

Without a second of hesitation or a single emotion showing Akame replied, "I would not mind at all."

To this Najenda smiled, pleased with herself, "Ok, then it's settled. Shiro, your physical therapy will start tomorrow, and Akame will assist you. As for everyone, you are dismissed!" she announced.

As everyone left, one person stayed, Akame. "What are you still doing here? I figured everyone would just go do their own thing." I stated.

She took a moment to process what had just been said, "I have nothing to do. I completed all of my tasks earlier." she stated calmly whilst taking a seat next to my bed.

"Oh okay, so why are you staying here though? Don't you have any hobbies?"

"Oh if I am a bother, I can go elsewhere."

"Oh no you're no bother at all! I was just curious as to why you'd stay here in the hospital."

"Well, if we are to fight alongside each other, then we must have complete understanding of one another. We must be able to read each other by our movements, therefore not giving the enemy a chance to figure out what we are doing."

"Ok, then I assume you're going to ask me questions about how I fight, correct?

"No, there are some things you can only learn about a person through battle. I am going to ask you something's about you as a person."

"Ah, ok, I understand. So what do you want to know?"

"Why do you do what you do?"

This perplexed me for a few moments. _Why am I doing this? For the village? For Mom and Dad? Why?_ I thought. "I guess I do it because I'm hoping to have found closure when it's all said and done." I stated as the wall became the recipient of my stare.

"Closure? Closure for what?" she asked, intrigued by my answer.

"Several years ago, the empire came to my village and burned it to the ground. Why? Because they could. They also took my mother with them. My father grieved up until he left to find her, and I haven't seen him since," I paused and allowed her to try and comprehend what I had just said, "I know they're both almost guaranteed dead, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I want to know why. Why did they come after a peaceful village in the middle of nowhere? And take my mother out of everyone to kidnap?"

Akame remained silent for several minutes before finally speaking up, "I'm sorry for your loss. I wouldn't know what it's like to grow up having parents. My sister and I were sold to the empire for protection for the village. For all I know they could've taken us and burned the village to the ground afterwards," she stated with a deadpan look plastered on her face.

"So, why do you do this?"

She thought for a few moments before speaking up, "Because even though what we do is wrong, we are helping the ones who need help. I don't want people to go through that of which what my sister and I went through," she stopped and hesitated on whether to continue on, "We trained our entire lives to be weapons to keep those who threaten the empire at bay. And now those very people we swore to defend against, are the ones we are defending. That's why I defected from the empire and joined Night Raid." she said with a huff, like she had just lifted a massive weight off her shoulders.

I hesitated on asking about her sister but, curiosity got the better of me, "What happened to your sister? Did she come with you?"

"No. She stayed with the empire, corrupted by those in power. She was always so loyal, she didn't suspect a thing when they started prodding her with needles. They made my little sister, the only flesh and blood I have left, into a monster!" she exclaimed, slamming her fist into the side table.

I could only look on in shook as her only emotion that she had openly shown to me was anger so far, "What do you mean?"

"They made her into a killing machine. She can't die, not unless you severe her head or pierce her heart. So when I find her, when I finally see her again, I'll kill her." With that she stood and left me with my thoughts. After what felt like hours, I finally decided to sleep.

 _October 16_ _th_ _, 752 5:21 PM_

I awoke with a start as I immediately noticed my bed was moving. I raised my head to see where I was being taken and saw Lubbock and Leone were the ones moving me. "Where are you guys taking me?"

"We're taking you to your room, there's no reason to keep you in the infirmary if you won't be needing constant attention. So you might as well be brought to your new room!" yelled Leone in joy, causing me to cup my hands over my ears to try and cancel out the noise.

Upon reaching my new room, it was pretty much what you'd expect for an assassin. It wasn't extremely big, but it wasn't cramped. It had a small closet alongside a desk and a bed big enough for one, two if you really try. The walls, were a basic gray, and completely bare. As they wheeled me into the room, I noticed a small picture frame with a person bright blue hair and a spear on her shoulders.

"Who is that?" I asked inquisitively.

"Who?" Asked Leone as she scanned the room until she saw the picture, "Reia..." she stammered, "That's Reia. This was previously her room until she disappeared." Upon saying this, she placed the picture frame face down, "Now, let's get you out of that stupid hospital bed!" she said with a slight tremor in her voice and a plastic smile plastered on her face.

Deciding not to press the issue, I simply allowed Lubbock and Leone to help my down on to my new bed, "My room….." I smiled, I couldn't help it, and it had been years since I had a room to call mine. "It's been awhile."

"Well I'm glad you like it, if you need anything Lubbock is across the hall, so just yell." noted Leone with a more genuine smile.

As they left I decided to get back to sleep, there wasn't much to do while threatening to fall apart.

 _October 18_ _th_ _7:52 PM_

I awoke from a knock at the door and waited a few seconds to call them in. Turned out the person knocking at my door was Akame, wanting to know if I was going to try and come to dinner since I hadn't eaten anything all day that day or the day prior. Deciding that it would be best to evaluate my condition, movement wise at least, while getting some food. I tried standing on my own a bit before giving up and allowing Akame to help hold me up until I got feeling in my legs again, due to the painkillers they had me on.

When I finally could move without falling, it was at a snail's pace, but I was honestly just glad to be able to walk with becoming very well acquainted with the floor. It was nice not being confined to that bed, although I could tell I was getting splinters in my feet by the second due to the poor condition the wooden floor seemed to be in.

Upon reaching the dining room, everyone looked confused when I hobbled in. Heji was about to come help me to the table until Akame waved for him to sit back down. When I finally got to the table, everyone gave a congratulatory smile in my direction. The food arrived minutes later, and it looked absolutely delicious. We had steak, cooked rice, vegetables and such. It was one of the best meals I've had in years.

Once everyone was finished, Akame and Bro cleaned the table. While they were doing that, the others began performing maintenance on their weapons. I seemed to be the odd one out as I had left my sword in my room. This didn't last long because Najenda eventually spoke up.

"Ok, now let's get down to business. Mein, Akame, Lubbock, please bring me your reports on last night's mission."

Each of them, without a word, approached Najenda with their reports and she looked over them. Eventually, she finished and placed them in a stack and dismissed us all. That's when she noticed my presence.

"Shiro, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting." She stated in a motherly tone, which unnerved me quite a bit.

"I figured that since I'm part of the team, I should at least be present during things such as dinner."

"Ah, I see," she began, "well training begins at 7 tomorrow morning. Goodnight"

With that, she left, and I was left alone in the dining room. As the clock continued to tick, I continued to go through my thoughts. I pondered on what the outcome of my decision to join Night Raid. _Am I making the right choice? What do I have to gain from this? My parents are certainly dead, so why am I bothering?_ These were constant thoughts that rang throughout my mind.

"Shiro? What are you doing still up?" asked a familiar, monotonous voice from the doorway.

I turned to find Akame standing in the doorway, "Oh, I was just thinking. Seems like I've been doing a lot of that lately," I chuckled, "anyway, what is it?"

"I was getting a drink and saw the light still on." She replied in an emotionless voice.

"Oh, okay. Wait what time is it?" I asked while subsequently checking the time on the clock.

"It's a bit past 10 if I remember correctly."

She was right, it was 10:09 PM. "Thanks, I think I'll be heading to bed now." As I went to stand, I felt my legs start to give out and quickly retreated back into my chair. _This is going to suck. A lot._ I tried again and committed myself to standing. At first, everything was fine and I took a step. That's when I felt it for the first time, a large gash on my left leg made its presence known. I quickly reached for it and tumbled to the ground with a loud thud. As I gripped the place where the gash was in order to hopefully relieve the pain, I felt a strange liquid flow from it. When I looked at it, it was obviously blood.

"Shiro!" shouted Akame as she rushed to help. "Let me see it," she demanded, and I complied. She carefully removed the bandages and the leaned on it, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

The Leone walked by and saw what was going on, "Akame, Shiro, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later, just go get some more bandages." Said Akame in a commanding tone. Leone left and came back quickly with some bandages. Akame immediately bandaged the wound and had Leone help take me to my room, where I took some pain medication and thought for a few minutes. _Why did it just open like that?_ After some time, I gave up and fell asleep.

 _October 25_ _th_ _, 752 7:09 AM_

I walked out of my room after getting ready for the day. We didn't have training today so I took my time. My wounds have healed but leave a reminder all over my body, of how close to death I came. While I wasn't at 100% just yet, I was finally able to train with the others. I was also allowed to finally walk around unsupervised. The only reason I had to be supervised in the first place was my leg incident last week.

Since today was basically a free day, I decided to relax. On my way outside I ran into Sheele, who was walking while reading her book. _Sheele, doing two things at once? Not good._ Deciding against her falling off a cliff because of her absentmindedness, I took her book saying, "Careful, watch where you're going." I then pointed at the doorway she was about to walk into.

She silently nodded a thank you in response and took her book back and didn't walk face first into the door frame. Then I heard a loud crash. As I peered inside, my jaw dropped in disbelief. Sheele, was laying there with a chandelier on the ground next to here. _How did she- don't ask._ Not wanting to have to spend my day cleaning up the broken chandelier, I made a quick U-turn back towards my destination. When I got there, I took no time at all to relax under a nearby tree. Soon after, I began watching the birds in the distance fly. Once this became uninteresting, I figured a few hours of shut eye couldn't hurt, and began to drift away.

This however didn't last very long as I felt someone poking my face in various places. Annoyed, I opened my eyes to see Leone standing over me.

"What is it?" I asked hesitantly.

"I need a hunting partner and can't find anyone else," she claimed with a smile, "so it looks like you're going to be my partner!"

Before I could refuse, she already was dragging me into the forest. I swear, as I caught a final glimpse of the base, I saw everyone standing there smiling and waving. _Okay, I see how it is._ Eventually Leone threw me forward like a rag doll and I rolled clear into a tree, leaving an impact crater on it where my head hit.

As I stood up to brush myself off, I racked my brain for any possible reasons I could think of to get out of hunting with Leone. "Leone, how am I supposed to hunt without my weapon?"

This had clearly crossed her mind as she tossed me my sword.

"And I'm not even fully healed, I'm just cleared to walk around and such. I'm not cleared for strenuous activities."

"If you're quiet, you only have to swing that sword of yours once. Now let's move, we don't have time to waste, we need to get enough food for the entire team by sundown." She said in an annoyed tone, signaling me to shut up and deal with it.

 _October 25_ _th_ _, 752 4:39 PM_

"Okay, this should be enough for tonight," claimed Leone as I collapsed against a tree, "now let's get it home."

"Ugh, just great." This was all that exited my mouth. My entire body ached and I could feel my recently healed wounds begging to burst open once more. Deciding against complaining and simply did what was needed of me by tying each animal together with rope and tying that around my waist with my sword hanging loosely from my back in its sheathe. The straps that came over my shoulder s and down under my left arm to connect in the middle, had seen its fair share of battles and was in dire need of being retired and replaced.

As we headed back home, I noticed that there were no animals at the sides of the path, no birds chirping, only a breeze heavy enough to be felt, but light enough to not disturb the fallen leaves on the forest floor. Something was definitely wrong and I think Leone noticed too. She wasn't her usual chatterbox self, she was completely quiet except for the bundle of game she was dragging behind her. And even though she looked like she only had her eyes forward, like me she was looking everywhere at one.

"Leone-." She cut me off.

"I know _**Koge**_. Keep your eyes forward and shut up." She said in a low voice. I was shocked. First of all, at how harsh she had turned. Second, she used my alias. Everyone in Night Raid, until now, has called me Shiro.

I shut my mouth immediately, and kept looking straight ahead. Not at Leone, but through her. Then I noticed she was getting further and further away. She wasn't getting faster, I was getting slower and it was obvious. I quickly sped up in order to catch her.

Leone turned around with a look of fear on her face, "Koge!"

I turned slightly and saw a spear cut straight through my ropes that were attached to my bundle of food and it dropped. In a shocked state, I dove away from yet another two spears that flew straight for me and reached for my sword. Grabbing it, I readied myself as Leone ripped her ropes off and backed me up. That's when two figures emerged from the side of the path, one holding a spear, and another with a two short handle scythes, and both grinning madly.

"You got lucky kid, but that won't matter for long." Spoke one of them.

I glanced at Leone then back at them. _Oh great, this'll be fun._ I stretched out my arm and got into a stance, low to the ground with my left foot forward and my sword held over my head with both hands, angled down towards my opponents.

"Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

_October 25_ _th_ _, 752 6:22 PM_

Sweat poured down my face, instinctively making me quickly wipe it off with the back of my hand. Leone and I stood side by side, prepared to defend ourselves if needed. We stood on the path for what felt like hours, awaiting them to make a move. At one point, I quickly glanced at Leone and was shocked at what I saw. Her hair had grown longer, her hands and feet were now the paws of a lion, and she even had ears and a tail.

"Leone-?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Shut up and eyes forward. I'll explain later." Commanded Leone.

When I turned back to face the men in the wood line, they were gone. Then they reappeared in front of us. The guy with the two short handled scythes started attacking Leone, while the one with the spear charged at me. I knew exactly what his plan was, go for the heart. Knowing this, I stepped to my right, making him to miss. With my hands still firmly gripped onto my sword, my knee met his gut in an attempt to knock him of balance. When he dropped to his hands and knees, the only thing on my mind was ending this early. I raised my sword and brought it down on him. Sadly, I was too slow and he was able to roll out of the way, and leapt to his feet. The next thing I saw was his knee meeting the side of my skull. This sent me flying into a nearby tree, leaving an impact crater on it where my skull hit. With my vision blurry and blood flowing from an open wound above my eye, I still managed to lean far enough to my left to avoid a spear in my face.

"I see you aren't giving up as soon as expected. No matter, you'll be dead soon enough." Commented my attacker. He then proceeded to try and pull his spear from the tree to stab me with it. Before he could do so, I used his spear to pull myself up and give his face a much needed introduction to my fist. Stumbling backwards, he tripped and fell next to my sword and grabbed it.

"That's it! Not only am I going to kill you, will I do so with your own sword!" he yelled as he charged at me, with my sword held high.

"Not happening." I quickly broke off part of the spear and held it in a defensive stance. As he drew closer, I knew exactly what to do. When he reached me, I quickly threw dirt in his eyes and he dropped my sword in favor of his eyes.

"Hey, you cheater, what's the big idea, throwing dirt in my eyes." He screamed as he rubbed his eyes to get the dirt out but to no avail. Not caring about what he had to say, I grabbed my sword and gripped it.

"Shut up."

I then brought the sword down and made several different motions. When I finished, he was simply a pile of body parts. Remembering Leone was fighting as well, I turned to find something absolutely brutal. She stood in a puddle of blood, surrounded by what I assume was what remained of her opponent. She simply smiled at me, transformed back to normal and turned to get the food she was carrying. _Note to self: Don't piss her off!_ I then turned towards where my bundle was, only to see it was covered in flies and stunk.

"You have to be kidding me." I said in disbelief.

"Well you left it out in the sun, what did you expect?"

"In my defense, I didn't get a chance to put it in a shady area, I kind of had to deal with almost being impaled!"

"Oh well, we'll be fine. We'll just have to go hunting again sooner. Come on, let's get this home, and get that cut of yours checked out."

 _October 25_ _th_ _, 752 9:09 PM_

We eventually reached home and put the food in its designated area and I headed to the infirmary. While waiting for Doc to check out my head, Akame came in.

"Hey Shiro, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Me? Oh I'm fine, just got this gash on my forehead, a possible concussion, and I think something might be wrong with my spine." I replied in a sarcastic tone.

"What's wrong with your spine?" She asked with slight concern.

"Did I not say "I think"?"

"Then why do you think something's wrong with it?"

"I can't feel my arm."

"Maybe it's broken."

"No that couldn't be it, I only lost feeling in it only the way back, after the fight."

"Well, I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

That's when Doc came in. When he saw me, he stopped and stared for a few moments before smiling and approaching me. "My, my, you just cannot stay out of trouble can you? I mean seriously, you got this hurt on a day off. I'd hate to see what happens on a mission. I wouldn't be surprised if you came back missing a limb or two." He chuckled. I couldn't help it, I laughed also, no matter how bad I was hurt.

"Don't jinx me there Doc, I would like to stay in one piece thank you." We both laughed at this and he began examining me.

"Akame, can you be a dear and lend me a hand?" asked the Doc.

"Sure thing." Replied Akame with slight surprise.

 _October 27_ _th_ _, 752 6:45 AM_

Surprisingly, nothing too serious was wrong with me. I was simply a bit shaken up. Sadly this'll set back my recovery a bit. Another thing that sucks is that the top two straps to my sheathe broke. I only noticed it this morning when I went to inspect it. It was a miracle that I made it home without it falling off. Annoyed, I walked outside to get ready for therapy. Whilst waiting for Akame, I sat under a nearby tree, crossed my arms and simply relaxed against the base of it.

I guess Akame had the same idea, because eventually she simply took a seat next to me. We sat there for a while before I finally spoke up.

"So what's today's schedule?" I asked hesitantly.

"This." Replied Akame.

"This? What do you mean?"

"I mean, today, we are simply going to rest, seeing as you pushed yourself yesterday in that fight and got yourself hurt."

"Oh, okay. I can do that." I smiled and closed my eyes simply breathed. I didn't think, I didn't move, or anything, I just lived. The shade of the tree protected us from the harsh sun, not allowing it to overheat us, whilst the breeze kept us cool. It was quite the relaxing time.

 _October 27_ _th_ _, 752 5:06 PM_

"Shiro! Where are you?" called Sheele.

I smiled from my hiding spot just above the path my clumsy teammate was walking down. I let out a slight snicker when she finally passed me. When I did this, I accidentally let some of my weight shift to a thinner, weaker part of the branch I was hiding on. Sheele, turned around and smirked when she heard the branch crack. Her smirk was replaced with a look of confusion when all she saw was a branch that fell.

"Dang it. And I was sure someone was there." Stated Sheele as she began to walk off once more.

Confused, I looked around and saw Akame had pulled me up to a slightly higher branch. With a thankful nod, I began looking for a new place to hide. When I found one, I leapt branch to branch and upon arriving something felt off. When I looked around, I didn't find anything overly bad about the spot, except the sightline to a cliff in the distance. It took a few seconds to notice the person laying facing me on the cliff. I don't understand how it took so long to see her since she was wearing all pink for crying out loud. It was Mein, Sheele's partner, and the other seeker in our team based hide and seek game. Something was wrong though, it just didn't feel right. So when I peered through my binoculars, I saw she was aiming pumpkin, her energy based sniper rifle, at me.

"Oh crap." I said as I dove from the tree just in time to dodge a massive energy blast that leveled a massive area in front and behind me.

"Shiro, are you ok?" asked Akame, when she landed next to me.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said before looking back at Mein's handiwork, "but I think Mein is pissed."

"Mein did this?" asked a confused Akame.

"Yeah, from a cliff to the southeast."

Before I could say anything else, Akame was gone. I assumed she went to see what Mein's problem was. And me being the one she almost killed, I was curious as well. I then traveled to the cliff while still keeping an eye out for anyone else. When I eventually got close to where Mein was when she fired, I could already hear her and Akame yelling at each other.

"That's no reason to try to kill the guy!" screamed Akame.

"What has he done since he's been here, huh? Nothing! Even when he went hunting with Leone, he didn't bring anything back!" retorted a furious Mein.

"You know damn well why he didn't! He and Leone had to fight for their lives against two highly skilled people! It's not his fault they were attacked, he didn't know it was going to happen! Leone was told not to use that trail for a while since it was closer to the capital and how many people had gone missing in the area!"

"How do you know? Those could've been false reports made by the empire to lure us into a trap when we inevitably investigated! For all we know, he's working with the empire, biding his time to strike us all down! And you know what? With how you are with him, you'll be the first one he kills!"

"Enough! Mein, you don't trust him I get that, but you haven't even given him a chance. If you just gave him a chance, you'd see he's not that bad."

"Are you sure he isn't? Are you sure you know the real him? It'll end up just like Kimora."

Akame paused for a few moments with her head down. She said nothing for several minutes, she just kept staring at the ground. Regretting her words, Mein took a step forward and opened her mouth. Before any words could come out of her mouth however, Akame slapped her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Mein. Never, say that name again. And I swear if you ever make any comparison between them again, Shiro will be the least of your worries." Said Akame in a very low voice. She then proceeded to turn around and walk away.

Shocked by the events that had just transpired in front of me, I made my way home to process everything.

 _October 31_ _st_ _, 752 9:03 AM_

Finally, I was 100% and ready to go on a mission! At the time, I was sharpening my sword and making sure everything was ready. I even got a new sheathe. It was made of leather with armored plates inserted in the areas between the straps, covering my heart and most of my lungs. When I was finally satisfied with my sword, I went into the kitchen for a drink and relaxed in the lounge.

Propping my feet up, I looked at the ceiling with a determined look on my face, "I'm ready."

 _October 31_ _st_ _, 752 3:57 PM_

I sat on my bed, fully geared and ready to go. I was wearing a matte black pair of boots, with a pair of dark jeans, topped off with a black t-shirt with a face mask that covered from my nose down sewn into it. Beside me laid my sword and sheathe, along with a decent amount of cash in case I couldn't make it home. I looked down at my hands for a few moments before looking back up to my door as I heard in slowly open.

"It's time." Said Bro from the other side of the door.

Without a second thought, I stood and fastened my sword and sheathe to my torso and pulled my mask up. As I walked down the hallway, I heard running behind me. I looked back to see Leone coming my way.

"How you feeling? Are you nervous?" she asked, throwing her arm over me like an older sibling would to a younger one.

"If I said no, I'd be lying. But I'm not as nervous as you'd think." I said with a smile on my face.

"That's good. Being too nervous or too confident will get you killed, and we don't want that now do we?"

I simply nodded as we walked out into the briefing area.

"Ah, about time Shiro. It's time to go over the details for your first assignment. Your target is low life drug dealer in the slums of the capital. You are to follow him, watch where he goes, who he talks to, and when you get as much information from him as you can, eliminate him. Our client has paid a lot in advance for us to take down this drug ring and this is the only lead we were given. Are you ready?" said Najenda while handing me his predicted route.

"How do I know who my target is when I don't know what he looks like?" I asked with a confused look on my face.

"You'll know him when you see him. Keep your eyes open out there, he's a slippery guy devil from what my sources say. Akame will be going with you for combat support. Report in to her every half hour, we don't want you to get stuck out there without backup." Stated Najenda with a smirk.

I nodded as a way of understanding the plan and glanced at Akame. She was cleaning her sword extremely carefully, making sure as to not even touch the blade. Curious about this, I decided to put that on my list of things to find out, next to the transformation thing Leone did a while back.

"You should get moving, it's quite a long journey to the capital and you need to be there by sunset."

We nodded, and left.

 _October 31_ _st_ _, 752 9:21 PM_

I sat in the bell tower of a church with a pair of binoculars. The only people I had seen so far were tired men heading home from a long day's work, women of the night looking for customers, and the odd person here and there. Assuming it to be time to check in with Akame and change positions, I descended the bell tower on the outside, using jutting out bricks as a sort of ladder. I made my way across several rooftops before finally stopping and hopping down into an alleyway. There I saw Akame leaning on the wall, sword loosely dangling to her waist, going over the different paths our target was predicted to take.

"Hey Akame, I'm checking in. North side looks clear, I'm heading to sweep the south." I stated before leaving the alley.

"They say he might start a few blocks from here, check it out."

"Got it."

I walked to the next route on the ground, no point in climbing to the rooftops if I'm going to have to get off them to check the route. As I turned a corner, I saw a man spring into an alley on the right side of the street. Assuming it to be my target, I gave chase. This led me through several different back alleys and side streets that were narrower than the main ones. Eventually, the chase led me to and open arena, sort of like a coliseum. This is where I saw two men in trench coats staring each other down. They eventually drew their weapons, one being a semi normal looking sword and the other having wrist gauntlets with blades protruding from over the hands. I could see they were speaking to each other, although I couldn't hear them, I could tell they definitely were. The guy with the sword then clenched both hands around the hilt of his sword and looked down as if praying. A few moments later, I could hear him, laughing. It wasn't the kind of laughter like when something funny happen or was said, nor was it a laughter used to brush off unwanted situations. It was an unsettling laughter, one of a madman, the kind of laughter someone has when you throw your best shot at them and it doesn't even faze them. I then watched as they talked for a short few more moments before they finally fought. Barely able to follow the action with my eyes, I watched as they clashed time and time again, neither landing a single scratch on the other. When they stopped, almost the same distance from each other as before, I watched as the man with the sword began arguing with himself.

"NO! I won't go back in there! You won't seal me back up that damned sword!" screamed the man as he began thrashing about, holding onto his head.

Eventually, the thrashing stopped and he sat composed himself before looking back at his opponent. They got into their stances, ready to continue their battle. Then the man with the gauntlet blades pulled his hood down to reveal a strange piece of headwear on his forehead in the shape of an eye. He stood there, wind suddenly blowing back his blonde hair and him sporting a manic grin.

"This is MY Imperial Arms, the Watcher! As you know, I can see your movements before they even happen. But I assume you don't know it's special ability do you?" yelled the now, hoodless man with the gauntlets.

"Zank, we have fought so many times, I've lost count. Why are you saying this again?" questioned the man with the sword.

"Oh, I wasn't exactly talking to you, I was trying to fill in our one man audience on why you're about to die." Announced the man named Zank.

 _Crap, he saw me. I might as well come out in the open._ I pulled my mask back up and walked into clear view and heard the swordsman gasp. He slowly approached me, sword held loosely in his hand and stood a few feet from me, never showing me his face.

In a hushed voice he asked, "Shiro? Is that you?"

Out of complete shock, I nodded, unsure of how he knew my name.

"Why are you here?" he asked sternly.

Confused as to why this strange man was asking me this, I gave no answer.

He sighed before turning around and lowering his hood, "I guess we'll talk when this is over." He said as he got back into his stance with his back to me.

"Ah how sweet, father and son reunited. I'd hate to end this reunion so fast, so I'll just kill you both!" screamed Zank.

 _Father?_ My eyes widened, is the man in front of me my father? Could it really have been this easy to find him?

"NOW KAGIMORA, FALL BEFORE YOU THE ONE YOU HOLD DEAREST!" screamed Zank as the eye thing on his head lit up and he charged. Something felt wrong though, father didn't move a muscle in response. He stood there as Zank charged, not even blinking. He stood there as the seemingly insane man rushed him.

Not taking the time to try and snap Dad out of it, I grabbed him and threw us both out of the way. "I don't know what the heck your problem is with my father, and nor do I care to know. If you want to fight, let's fight."

"I see someone has guts, I guess I'll just have to rip them out of you." He said with a twisted smile on his face.

For the first time tonight, I drew my blade and readied it. _First, I'm going to kill this guy, then I'll make Father give me some answers._ Then I felt a sudden tug on the back of my shirt and was forcefully thrown to the ground. When I looked up, my father's eyes met mine and we had a silent understanding of what he was doing.

"I'm sorry Zank but you'll have to go through me first!" he yelled defiantly, as if challenging death itself to come and try and take me. They readied themselves for what would become their final clash.

As they fought, I held nothing but respect for my father. None of the hatred and resentment remained as I watched the two men fight to the death. A warrior, defending the only thing he had left, his son. It soon came to an end when I watched the eye piece on Zank's forehead light up, signaling the beginning of the end. Father froze like before, motionless, engulfed in complete shock. Fearing the worst, I rushed to him in an effort to reach him before Zank. But I failed. I watched in horror as Zank's gauntlet blades tore into my father's chest. He then, just as savagely and unforgiving as before, tore them out and let him fall backwards. He stood over the lifeless corpse with an absolutely insane smile on his face before looking back at me.

"You're next."

With anger overflowing from me and my blood boiling, I readied my sword, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"

I charged at him and he stood there with a menacing grin, staring me down as I grew closer. Noticing something was wrong, I stopped and took on a defensive stance. _There's no way, he'd let me attack. He wants me to come at him._

"Very clever boy. I see you're smarter than you look. I guess that means that plan is out the window. Just in case you're wondering, I can read your thoughts. That's one of my Imperial Arms abilities. Quite useful if I do say so myself. And then there's the movements thing I said earlier. As you probably know, if you know what someone is going to do and how they're going to do it, they are going to fail miserably. This means, I'm practically impossible to kill!"

 _Now's my chance!_ I rushed him, sword aimed for his heart. When I reached him, he already had his gauntlets ready. I went for a slash at his neck. He blocked it. I went for a stab aimed for his abdomen, but he dodged it and countered with a slash barely far enough away that it cut my mask and cheek, drawing blood. As we continued to fight, I began to have to focus more on defense than offense as he knew my exact movements. Steadily, he continued to land glancing blows on me as I continued to fend him off. _Crap! I thought Akame would be here by now! I haven't reported back to her in almost an hour!_

"Ah, Akame. I remember her, the deadliest assassin in Night Raid. I think her head would be a very nice addition to my collection!" he screamed as he continued his assault.

"No! I won't allow that to-"my words were cut off by a boot to the gut that sent me flying backwards, towards my father's body. As I laid there, coughing up blood, I heard something or, someone.

"Do you wish to defeat this man? Do you wish to protect your friend? Do you wish to live?" asked the almost demonic voice.

I groaned and nodded a yes.

"The take your father's sword and release me. I will fight for you." Said the voice, trying to convince me to take it.

Sensing Zank was approaching to finish the job, I had to decide whether to take the sword and fight, or to let go and allow the inevitable to occur. I rolled towards the sword and reached for it, but was stopped by a boot being placed firmly into my lower back. All I could do was scream in pain as he twisted his boot and pressed it further into the small of my back, all the while laughing insanely.

"This is the son of the great Kagimora?! You are nothing compared to what he was! No wonder your mother was taken, you're both so weak." He said devilishly as he continued to press on my back, now earning cracks and pops for his efforts.

Reaching for the sword, I finally reached far enough to get the handle into a firm grip. I twisted and swung the blade at him, forcing him off me. As I got back up, I saw him charging at me. _Well, I tried. There's no way I can go through this song and dance again._ I dropped to a knee out of pain and glared at my approaching death.

"Quick! Grab the handle and release me!" urged the voice that echoed in my head.

Seeing no other options, I gripped the handle tightly and allowed my consciousness to be dragged into the orb dangling from the handle of the sword. I looked around in a massive room of darkness. Then I saw it, a cage with a man in it. All I could see of him was his hands as he gripped the bars of his prison.

"Ah, Shiro, we meet at last. This has been a long time coming. Now quick unlock the chains that confine me to my cell. Unleash me so we may take revenge for your father!" he screamed.

Doing as I was told, I simply grabbed the chains and they each disappeared. I watched this thing took control of my body, as I watched from my new prison inside the orb. I watched in horror as my body stood and began moving like some crazed madman. He moved like a man without anything to lose, he threw caution to the wind.

"Ah, a real fight!" exclaimed Zank out of pure joy as he dodged some sloppy attacks that looked like they belonged to a kid playing.

"Yes, it's good to finally have a body that can truly utilize my fighting style. Zank, prepare to die!" exclaimed whatever was in control of my body.

The two fought for what seemed like hours, when in reality, it was only mere minutes. As the two clashed for the twentieth time, they got some distance between them.

"Well this is has been fun, but I really don't want to have to fight two people at once, so I think I'll end this! Prepare to fall before the one you cherish the most!" shouted Zank as his eye-thing lit up and he charged.

 _Two people, what is he talking about? Could he mean-?_ I lost my train of thought as I watched myself smirk and charge at Zank. I could tell this was unexpected because Zank stopped. That's when I saw what Zank was referring to, Akame had finally found us. She had forced Zank to block a flurry of attacks that all targeted different body parts and all came from different angles. Every attack she made was blocked and left no opening to continue her onslaught from the same angle. As quick as she began her series of strikes, she stopped them and put some distance between them.

"I apologize that I was late Shiro. I had no clue as to where you had gone. Then I heard shouting and assumed you were involved." She stated, not even taking her eyes away from her current opponent, "I'm impressed Shiro, you managed to fight this man for so long without an imperial-" she was cut off as she peered towards me, or rather, my body. She had a look on her face of complete shock. She muttered something incoherent before slowly walking towards me.

"Akame! Don't come any closer!" I screamed as I stared in horror at my own face. It twisted into a malicious grin and whoever was controlling my body, gripped the sword firmly and readied it. I kept screaming, but to no avail, she couldn't hear me and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. As she got closer, I began to panic. I had to do something, but I didn't know what.

"Don't worry kid, I won't kill her. This time." He said before grabbing the collar of her shirt, pulling her forward and hitting the back of her head, knocking her out.

I took this as my chance to try and retake my body. I reached out and grabbed him through my body, pulling him out and me closer to it. Eventually, I was back in my body, on the ground. I looked over to Akame to see if he had kept his word, and he had. She was in fact, still breathing. But this wasn't going to last if I didn't do anything. I watched as Zank walked up to her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. And here I was hoping to kill you without inside interference. Ah, too bad. A kill is a kill." He said as he grew closer.

Forcing myself to her, and clutching my sword, I threw my hand in front of his. A sharp pain filled mine as I saw his gauntlet blade was stuck in my hand. I knew this would be my only chance to kill him in my current state, so I took my sword and ran it through his chest. When it was over, I could see my blade sticking out of his chest. When I looked down at his free hand, I saw it was limp on the ground, centimeters away from me.

Panting, I let go of the sword and fell to the ground next to Akame, "So I was fast enough."

I could feel someone stir next to me, and in fear of it being Zank, I raised up. I was relieved to see it was my friend, beginning to regain consciousness.

"Shiro? What happened?" she said, still regaining her bearings.

"A lot of fighting Akame. A lot of fighting." I replied.

I guess that's when she finally realized the blade coming out of my palm, because she immediately started checking my hand. I smiled and assured her that my health was indeed fine. Not fully convinced, she helped me up and started guiding me to a safe house. That's when I heard someone getting up. In assumption of who it was, I quickly turned and held my sword out, facing him.

"You think I'm finished?! I'm only just getting started!" screamed Zank as he stood unfazed by the wound in his chest, "NOW WATCH AS THE ONE YOU CARE ABOUT MOST, KILLS YOU!" he screamed as he charged at me.

In the blink of an eye, it was no longer Zank charging at me. It looked like a bunch of different people, constantly changing to the next person, before finally stopping on one. I watched as the friend that was helping me, was now charging at me. I watched in horror as the red eyes of my new found best friend were full of hate, anger and killing intent, and were directed at me. Then I felt a hand push me back onto the ground. When I looked up it was Akame. She quickly drew her sword and immediately brought it down on our attacker, slicing him, her, it, or whatever it was that was trying to kill us. Then, in the blink of an eye, the image of Akame turned into Zank, gushing blood all over the place. I noticed that as he was dropping to the ground, black symbols started spreading across his body, first coming from the cut that was made down his chest and expanding outward.

"Just die!" shouted Akame, angrily. This was the first time I had heard her actually get mad. And honestly, it was kind of scary.

"Akame," I said, catching her attention, "let's get out of here."

It took her a few moments to realize what I meant, but when she did she nodded and we left. On our way to the safe house, neither of us said a word. We kept walking until we finally got to our destination. I was kind of confused as to how a book store could be a safe house. That confusion was taken away when Akame pulled a book of the shelf that was locked under the counter. After that, a click could be heard from behind the bookcase to the back of the store. Limping and using the bookcases as something to prop myself up on, I made my way there. Akame came from behind me and pulled the bookcase open, like a door. I hobbled inside and slowly made my way down some stairs.

"This is the safe house," she said while locking the bookcase behind us, "sit down on the couch please."

I did as I was told and sat down. Soon after, she crouched down in front of me and started examining my hand. Eventually, she merely bandaged it and handed me some pills.

"Take only one, and only when it feels like your arm is going to rip itself off." she said in a tone that made sure I did as I was told.

I then began taking off some of my gear, starting with the sheath of my sword, which was no longer there. This confused me for a moment before I remember what happened earlier. Then I looked down at the sword my father and I had used. Now that I could get a good look at it, I noticed just how sinister and demonic it looked. The blade was curved and single edged, and looked like some sort of fang. The guard connecting the blade and handle was some kind of black metal that I couldn't recall seeing before, around the outside of the guard it was brought to a fine edge and was almost as sharp as the blade itself. Then the handle itself was firm, and normal, with nothing very special about it except the chain extending from the bottom to a red orb with a black slit, like a cat's eye. When I looked up, I saw Akame examining it as well. Then she finally spoke up.

"Where did you get this?"

"Remember the dead guy back there?"

"Yeah, Zank. I killed him."

"No, not him, the other guy."

"What other guy? It was just us three."

My heart jumped as I stared at Akame. _I know he was there. And I'm sure that he died there. There is no way he got out of there._

"Anyway, I got it from him. He fought Zank, died, and I took his sword in order to live. That's how things went down." I told her. I didn't want to tell her about the guy apparently being my father, I never saw his face after all.

"I see. Well let's get some rest, tomorrow, we have to sneak through the city in broad daylight. And when you're tired, you're sloppy. Come on, I'll help you to a bed." she said, helping me onto my feet, but I quickly went back down to the couch.

"I think I'll just sleep on the couch, I'm already here so I might as well." I said leaning back on the couch.

"Okay. I'll be right through that door if you need Me." replied Akame as she gestured towards the door to the right.

As she walked away, she turned off the lights and I soon spread out on the couch. Every muscle in my body ached as I moved. My chest felt as though it was being compressed into a tiny shell as I breathed, my lungs began to work less effectively, and I looked around and saw people that I shouldn't have. Not because they shouldn't be there, but because they were dead. Some of which were people I had killed in order to complete a job, or to progress towards my goal. Then some I didn't know, like an old woman that had her right arm on fire. Then, things got really scary, I started seeing members of Night Raid. Bro, Mein, Sheele, Leone, Lubbock, Najenda, and then Akame. One by one, they appeared, and one by one they disappeared, only to be replaced by the next. Finally though, When Akame finally faded, I saw myself. Unlike the others though, I could see what I looked like when the inevitable finally happened. I was battered and broken, covered in blood, and could barely stand, even in death. I saw a scar that spanned my entire torso, starting at my left shoulder, and ending at my right hip. I also saw a scar on my throat, like it had been slit. But strangely, none of these scars were open, indicating they weren't the cause of my demise. I examined every part of him I saw, but couldn't find a reason that I died. Then eventually, like the others, he faded as well, leaving myself alone with my thoughts.

 _What was that? Was that me in the future? If it was, how'd I die? Heck, why did I see that?_ I kept mentally asking why, only to receive no answer. This continued for several minutes until I fell drifted to sleep.

 _November 1_ _st_ _, 752 10:03 AM_

I awoke to the smell of food being cooked. I sat straight up, only to be halted by an aching soreness that extended to all parts of my body. I slowly hung my legs off the edge of the couch and stood up and stretched. As I slowly made my way to the kitchen, I could faintly hear talking. I pressed myself against the wall and listened in. It was Akame and Bro.

"Are you sure it is?" asked Bro in a worried voice.

"Yes, I'm positive. It has the engravings and everything." replied Akame.

"Then we are in quite the predicament here."

"Yes we are. Wait, has he used it yet?" asked Bro with a hint of worry in his voice.

 _My god, this pronoun game is really getting on my nerves. What are you two talking about?!_

Akame hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yes."

"I see. Then I guess he made the decision for us."

"No. He fought it off and forced him away! It hasn't taken him over!"

"That may be so but what of when it does, what do we do then?"

Akame paused for a moment before responding, "I'll make sure he doesn't use it anymore, and if he does, I'll be the one to finish him."

"Ok Akame. I'll tell Najenda that we recovered it, but it hasn't been used. But if he uses it, and she finds out, there will be no convincing her. She'll have him killed on the spot."

"I understand." replied Akame in a gloomy voice that I have yet to hear from her.

"Okay then, I'll be heading home now. It's good to see that you two are safe." stated Bro as he headed out a different exit.

I decided that my best idea was to go and lay down in case she came to check on me. As I laid back down, I started thinking about what they could've been talking about and soon came to the conclusion that it was me and the sword I got from Dad. And that when they said use it, they meant when I allowed that thing or whatever it was, take over my body. I sat still for several minutes until I heard someone walking into the room. I slowly got to my feet and saw it was Akame.

"Breakfast is ready." she said in a monotonous tone, before turning back.

Without a word, I followed her in and saw that a typical breakfast was ready, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. I filled a plate and sat at the kitchen table, across from my raven haired teammate. As I ate, I occasionally glanced up and would catch Akame staring at me. Every time this would happen, we'd either just immediately look away, or we'd stare at each other awkwardly for a few moments before finally looking away.

"So, when should we leave to go back to base?" I asked whilst picking at my eggs with my fork.

"After breakfast." replied Akame as she got up to put her plate in the sink.

I got up and followed her lead, placing my plate in the sink for the caretakers of this safe house to clean up. Soon after, we grabbed our gear and left, only taking back alleys and such in order to not be out in broad daylight. An all-out fight with the imperial police, would not be a good idea. At least not in my condition. Most of our route though was through the slums, where a lot of revolution sympathizers are. As we passed by people, they all refused to look at us. Not because they disliked us, but so they didn't know what we looked like so they couldn't give us up. Anyone on the outside looking in would see two people walking through the slums, and no one daring to make eye contact with them out of fear. But everyone involved knew what was going down.

Eventually, we made our way out of the city, dressed as two newlyweds leaving to visit family outside of the capital. The guards at the front gate even wished us well on our journey. We'll have to remember that if we need to go through the front gate in the future. Once we were out of sight of the guards, we made our way through the forest to get home.

 _November 1_ _st_ _, 752 5:16 PM_

We sat there, backs against a tree, resting as we ate. When we finished, we buried what we didn't exactly need to take back, like bones and such. We then just sat there for a moment, relaxing.

"So Akame, what's an imperial arms?" I asked as I stared into the sky.

"Well, long ago, when the first emperor was in power, he didn't want his kingdom to crumble once he died. In order to prevent his empire from crumbling and to defend it from anyone that would wish to harm it, he created the Imperial Arms, also known as Teigu. These were made from legendary beasts, making them extremely powerful. Like Leone's Teigu, her belt. When it activates, she grows more ferocious and wild. Her strong suit is hand to hand combat, along with her immense strength. Therefore making hers a good fit for her. It's not all about how well it compliments your fighting style though," Akame stated.

"What do you mean? If something compliments your fighting style, you should use it shouldn't you?" I asked confusedly.

"That depends on if the Teigu accepts you as its user. If it does, then you can use it to the best of its abilities. However if it doesn't accept you, it will drain you much faster. Normally, wielding a Teigu that accepts you is strenuous enough, but it's nothing compared to one that doesn't accept you. If you're unlucky enough, it just might kill you." she said calmly.

"So, what's yours?"

"What? I don't follow."

"What's your Teigu?"

Akame cringes a bit, as if someone just forced her to kick a hungry puppy that just wants food and an owner. She soon recomposes herself before replying, "Murasame, the cursed blade. It got that name due to the fact that if it co much as scratches you, you'll die. The blade causes an incurable poison to travel throughout the person's body at an alarming rate. You know it killed them because the poison leaves its mark on the skin while it does its job, causing black symbols to cover the victim's body, starting from the wound."

"Doesn't that seem a bit overpowered? Anyone could kill anyone they wanted if they got a hold of it."

"And anyone they didn't want. That's the thing, the upkeep of this sword is extremely dangerous. A scratch from it will kill you. Not can, will. The poison doesn't discriminate. It doesn't matter if you meant to cut them or not, they will die." Akame stated in a dreary tone.

Everything fell silent. I sat in complete silence as I tried to comprehend what I was told. _Really? I figured some precautions would be put in place to prevent that. And that seemed odd. She seems like she is talking from experience with it._ I shook my head and got up.

"Well, we should get back. Everyone is probably worried about us." I said, painting a smile on my face to try and lessen the tension. I saw her return the gesture and took my hand.

As we walked, I got the feeling that we were being followed. It was obvious that they weren't good at shadowing people. I knew that they weren't exactly planning on having a friendly chat. I glanced at Akame out of the corner of my eye, she noticed too. Her face was fierce with annoyance.

"Akame." I said.

"Koge." she replied.

We looked at each other and nodded, before breaking into a sprint. As we rounded a bend in the path we were on, I could see where we would turn usually. We kept going straight, not daring to lead our followers back to base.

Eventually, we stopped and turned around. When I turned I saw nothing. Confused, I looked to Akame for confirmation. When I did, I noticed she had Murasame drawn and was ready to fight. Following her lead, I drew my sword, the one I had recently received and got into a stance.

As we waited, I swear I heard Akame mumble something, not loud enough to be heard, but loud enough to notice.

"What?" I questioned as I glanced in her direction.

"Don't let him." was her only response.

It only took me a fraction of a second to notice what she was talking about. _Why shouldn't I? If I use it too much will he be in permanent control of my body? Is that what she's trying to say?_ I pondered this for a moment until I was snapped back into reality when I saw something flying straight at me. Instinctively, I held my sword in a way that concealed me behind the broadside of the blade. I heard the projectile bounce off and when I looked down at it, I saw a note attached to an arrow. I reached down with my left hand and slowly untied the note, all the while keeping my sword held firmly in my hand in case of an attack.

The note read as follows:

 _Shiro, this path you are on will only lead to destruction. The destruction of innocent lives, the destruction of those you care about, and also, the destruction of you. Continuing down this path will not lead to what you expect. Every turn you make, it will get worse. Even if you manage to save the ones you care for, it will only cause them to experience the pain as well. So I ask of you, turn back. Destroy that orb attached to your father's sword and run. Run far away and don't look back. You are free to head to Night Raid's base if you wish. But keep this warning in mind. The path ahead is not for you. For it is lined with incomparable torment._

When I finished reading the note, I glanced and saw Akame had also read it and was like me, trying to comprehend what was happening. I stuffed the small piece of paper into my pocket before looking back to Akame. With seriousness adorning both of our faces, we headed home.

 _November 1_ _st_ _, 752 11:57 PM_

Upon arriving home, we both immediately went to our separate rooms. We spoke not of the note, of the sword or anything else. I slid my sword underneath my bed and took off whatever gear I still had on. As I tumbled onto my bed, I felt a wave of cold hit me from the cool sheets. This relaxation however, didn't last very long as my door opened swiftly and Doc entered. As he entered, I turned on the light, momentarily blinding me. I soon felt my bandages on my hand become unraveled and soon fall off, earning a small gasp of surprise from Doc.

"My, my, you really cannot stay out of trouble can you? First mission and for one, you got covered in cuts and bruises, and two you got a massive hole in your hand. You must really enjoy my company." Doc said as he began cleaning off the wound.

"Yes, because I love how you constantly whine at me to be more careful." I replied sarcastically.

He simply laughed and continued examining my injuries.

"Ok, it looks like you'll be good to go in about a few days. I swear you heal extraordinarily quickly. Your white blood cell count must be off the charts."

"Maybe. Heck if I know."

"Well, it's about time that I be off. Goodnight Shiro."

"See you later Doc."

I then laid back down and fell asleep quickly.

 _November 6_ _th_ _, 752 6:38 AM_

I awoke with a start as I heard a loud bang. Soon after, I was dressed and held my sword in my hand and exited out into the hall. As I approached the kitchen, I could hear faint shuffling. When I entered, I saw Sheele. Trying to sweep up broken glass from another chandelier.

"What the hell Sheele? Seriously, you must have something against chandeliers." I noted while I soon left the room.

"I swear I don't do it on purpose! They just fall when I'm around!" yelled Sheele as she failed horribly at cleaning up the mess.

On my way back to my room, I ran into Akame.

"What was that?" she asked, holding her sheathed sword firmly.

"Just Sheele breaking stuff. I swear she has something against chandeliers." I said with a light chuckle.

She smiled, happy to not actually be under attack. She then turned and went back to her room and as did I. Instead of going back to sleep though, I went to work, maintaining my sword's blade. Not much work was needed however as the craftsmanship of it was outstanding and if I hadn't been there to see it, I'd say that it had never seen battle. As I cleaned off the base of the blade, I uncovered an engraving. It looked like a typical name for a sword, _Kyojin no ken_. _What's the point of naming a sword anyways?_

"I too find it to be a useless thing to do. Does it really matter what the name of the sword that killed you is?" remarked a voice.

I looked around my room, startled by the voice. When I finally assumed it to be my imagination, I realized, it was similar to the one I heard mere nights ago when I had acquired my new sword. I looked down at it and saw the orb on the chain glowing. Before I knew it, I was back in that pit f nothingness with the cell. On the other side, I saw a man. His face was concealed by shadows but I could tell that if given a reason, or probably just a chance, he'd kill me without breaking a sweat.

Although his face wasn't visible, something told me he was smiling. This unnerved me as I stared up towards the man.

"What's so funny? Why am I here? Did you drag me back in here?" I questioned, with a slight quiver in my voice.

He snickered, "Kid, you've got nerve questioning me. And yes I did bring you here. Because if we are going to working together, we need to understand each other." he said as he paced back and forth.

"I'm listening. For now." I replied sternly, crossing my arms.

"Rule one, When I'm in control, I do as I wish from now on. Rule two, I don't do as you say if I don't want to. Rule three, when this is all over, you release me." he stated as he held up a number of fingers corresponding to what rule he was saying.

The last one really stuck into my head. _Release him? That's crazy. The world is bad enough as is, and if he gets released then that will only make it worse._

"Complain all you want, that's the only way you will acquire my cooperation. And don't think I'll help you when you're in need if you decline. I'll let you die if you try." said the man in the cage with a smirk.

"How'd you-? Don't tell me you can read minds too!"

"I can't. I'm in your mind as well. A link was made between us when I took over your body the first time. Think of it as a way of communication without having to be here."

"So you know what I'm thinking?" I asked. _Why does Sheele have a thing against chandeliers?_

"She might not have anything against chandeliers. Maybe she just happens to be around when they fall."

"Oh crap. So you know about that dr-"

"Yep."

"And the-"

"Yep."

"And-"

"Guess what. YES! I know. If you've thought it since the link was made, then I know it."

"Crap. Now I feel like you'll tell someone if I don't accept your terms. Am I right?"

"Hm, I didn't think of that. But now that you mention it, I will." He smirked as he leaned on the cell bars while reaching a hand out to shake.

Hesitantly, I took it and we shook on it, making our deal official.

 _This is going to go terribly, I can tell._

"Maybe for you, not me."

"Oh shut up, no one asked you."

I then left the orb, prison thing that he was in. When I regained control of my body, I realized, I was on the ground. In pain. While being kicked repeatedly. Upon noticing this, I grabbed the foot that was repeatedly connecting with my rib cage and forcefully bent the knee above it. The person then fell, letting out a small yelp and tumbled over me. As soon as it was possible, I flipped the green haired assailant and was prepared to repay him for the beating. In utter shock, he threw his hands up to hopefully prevent from becoming a punching bag.

"Whoa man, I thought you were out cold so I kept kicking you to wake you up!" he said sheepishly.

 _Wrong._ Then Lubbock, received a severe beating, while also trashing my room in the process. Frustrated with how my room was subsequently trashed due to my short temper, I left Lubbock in there, to clean it up.

When I checked the time, I realized that it was 8 o'clock. The only thing on my mind now, was food. As I went to the kitchen, I saw that a plate of food was sitting on the dining room table, where I usually sat for breakfast. Assuming that it was simply left there after I hadn't been present for breakfast, I ate it. It wasn't cold, but it surely wasn't fresh which didn't matter really. Soon enough, it was gone and was placed in the sink. Upon finishing everything I needed, I walked back to my room. Unsurprisingly, it was still a mess, and Lubbock was still sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. I grabbed my gear from under my overturned bed and left once more to go train.

Once I was outside, I was temporarily blinded by the sun shining straight into my face. As my eyes adjusted, I saw Akame training with a similar sword to her Murasame. I could tell the difference by the cloth on the handle, it was blue, instead of red. She was making quick strikes on a series of training dummies. Her movements were fluent and seemed effortless, like she had done this routine several hundred times over.

Deciding to help her with my training, I grabbed a sword like the one I used before I received my current one and jumped in. She seemed not to mind because she let a small smirk appear on her face as she changed her target to me.

 _November 6_ th _, 752 5:02 PM_

We trained for several hours on end, only stopping for quick 2 minute breaks. In hindsight those breaks did more harm than good because they teased our bodies with oxygen. But even though both of us could barely stand, we kept pressing forward for a bit longer.

"Had enough?" I asked as I panted like a dog.

"You. Wish." replied Akame, each word separated by a large inhale.

"Take 5?"

"Make it 6."

As we sat beneath a tree to the side of where we were training, I could tell neither of us were going to be able to get up. The grass was cool and much softer than the dirt we were on moments ago. I looked over at Akame, who was leaning back on the tree with her eyes closed. I smiled and closed mine as well. Before I knew it, I was already asleep, with my back against the tree.

 _November 6_ _th_ _, 752 11:39 PM_

I slowly awoke from a very strange series of dreams, each including things like talking rabbit and dancing trees. Shaking my head lightly, I began looking around, familiarizing myself with my surroundings once more. When I looked to my left, I saw a body, lying in the grass, facing away from me. I got to my feet, and cringed as a shot of soreness erupted through my body. _Probably should've followed Akame's example, sleep flat, not against a tree._

As I approached, I noticed how soundly asleep she was and a smile suddenly appeared across my face. Then a cold gust of air, made me finally notice the cold. Deciding to get Akame inside before she caught a cold, I picked her up. Carrying her to the base I felt her start to toss around a bit. Afraid she'd fall out of my arms, I sat down against a rock, giving her something to lay on. We sat there for several minutes and I watched her face constantly twisting in a mix of fear and pain. Unnerved and scared for my best friend's well-being, I started lightly shaking her. This clearly didn't work because she began to wail uncontrollably. I then shook her a bit more violently, finally waking her. For the first time since we met, Akame seemed afraid.

"Hey, Akame, you ok?" I asked.

"Shiro?" she replied in a slightly confused tone.

"In the flesh." I said with a cheeky smile.

She smiled at this and nodded before standing. We stood there for several moments, just, staring at each other before turning to head inside. Then I heard a sort of whoosh sound and saw that a light source had appeared behind me. As I turned I saw a man in a gas mask with some sort of tank on his back. The tank with connected to the cannon-like thing he held in his hands that was spewing flames into the air. Shocked at how he manipulated fire, I didn't notice the burst of flames coming straight for me. Thankfully, I was tackled to the ground by Akame, making us both narrowly miss the blast. As we got to our feet again, we drew our swords and quickly realized that we still had our training swords. Frustrated by this, I stared straight at the man in front of us.

 _This'll be interesting._


	4. Chapter 4

_November 7_ _th_ _, 752 12:06 PM_

We stared at our unwelcome guest, neither of our glares wavering in the slightest.

"I assume you're not a new neighbor introducing yourself," I began, "Who are you?"

He laughed, and continued staring at us, "I guess I don't give off that impression do I? All you need to know is that my name is Bols," he said as he stood motionless, but as alert as possible.

"And why is that? You think you're going to kill both of us?"

"I don't think, I know," he replied before spewing a massive wave of flames into our direction.

Simply diving to the side and rolling was enough to dodge it. Prepared to attack, I readied myself to launch a counteroffensive. Unfortunately for me, Akame had already beaten me to it. She was hitting him with a massive amount of strikes. Each strike landed but none of them seemed to actually break his skin. That's when I remembered she didn't have Murasame with her, and that her weapon now was a training sword.

 _I need to help her! With that training sword, it'll be impossible for her to defeat him._ I looked around before noticing our swords propped up on a tree near where we had awoken. Making a mad dash for them, I grabbed them both. But after I grabbed Murasame, I felt a burning in my hand and dropped it. When I looked at the sword, it had this darkish aura surrounding it before it soon faded. I knew I had to get Murasame to Akame so I grabbed it, ignored the pain and threw it to her. Surprisingly, she caught it and unsheathed it mid air. I watched as Akame continued her relentless, and now more dangerous assault on our opponent. Awaiting a chance to join the fray, I became hypnotized by the way Akame would move. Every action made seemed so natural and effortless, you'd think she had practiced this exact fight an untold amount of time. Before I knew it though, I saw a ball of fire coming straight for me and dodged.

As I got back up, two words exited my mouth, "Nice try."

I charged at him and repeatedly dodged from side to side as he let off short bursts of fire. One particular burst lasted a bit longer than I thought and I jumped straight into it. Immediately after, my coat caught fire, causing me to drop and roll. It was futile as I heard Bols laughing.

"Hahaha! It's pointless. That fire won't go out until all that remains are ashes. Try as you might, you'll roast alive!"

Hearing this made was a real wake up call because I sprang up and threw my coat off to the side and watched it quickly turn to ash. I glanced over at Bols who was clearly shocked that I had been quick enough to avoid being burnt to a crisp.

"How did you even-?"

"This is where I am suppose to say next time keep your mouth shut if you're trying to kill someone. But there isn't going to be a next time," I said as an arrogant smirk appeared on my face.

This only made him mad as he started setting everything in sight on fire. That means, he also set the base on fire. Out of shock, I didn't notice Bols running away. Thankfully Akame had already started chasing him.

"Akame! Don't let him escape, I'll help get everyone out!"

She held out a thumb to signal that she heard and continued to chase the man. When she finally disappeared from sight, I ran inside to find that the fire was destroying absolutely everything. I quickly rushed through the smoke and down the burning hallway. The fire attempted to engulf me several times but always came up just a bit too short, only slightly burning my arm or leg. As I check each room, I saw they were empty. _Did they already get out?_ As I approached the last room, I heard coughing. That's when I remembered it was my room. _Lubbock!_ I quickly threw the door open, which in turn almost took it off it's hinges. When I entered, I saw my green haired friend on the ground coughing like mad. In an act of desperation to keep my friend alive, I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. Just before exiting, I saw something gleam slightly and instinctively grabbed it. As I ran down the hall, I felt my arm burn fiercely. And in one final effort to keep us both alive, I jumped out of a nearby window, smashing the glass on impact. _Oh crap. We are on the third floor. This is going to suck._

As we hit the ground, I felt a sharp pain course through my legs and lower back. As soon as the pain took over, I collapsed to the group, sending Lubbock tumbling to the earth in a coughing mess. I tried for several minutes to stand but my legs simply wouldn't work. I then dragged myself to Lubbock and slipped him onto my back and crawled to a tree. When we reached the tree, he finally stopped coughing. Relieved that my friend was ok, and that he wasn't going to be coughing in my ear for a bit, I leaned back against the trees.

"It's about time you stopped coughing," I said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, thanks man, I owe you big time," replied Lubbock as we watched in silence as the base slowly burned to the ground.

"Yeah, you do."

"So I was the only left in there?"

"You're the only one I found. I assumed everyone else got out in time."

"Well, then let's find them," said Lubbock as he got up and extended a hand to help me up.

I began reaching to take it until I remembered I couldn't move my legs, "I can't walk."

"What? Why?"

"When I was getting you outside, I had to jump out of a third floor window. When we hit the ground I heard cracks and snaps in my legs and back."

"Wow man. Here, I'll see if I can go get you some help. I'd carry you but, I feel like it'll only mess you up worse," replied Lubbock as he ran out from the treeline.

I watched as he stopped and quickly dove to the side as a spike of sorts flew past him. Then another one, followed by several others. Each spike was so fast, Lubbock never got a chance to counterattack or anything. I tried to stand but it was useless, as I repeatedly fell back down. As I laid on the ground, unable to help, I could see he was slowing down. Each spike shot at him got closer, and they started grazing him. Then I saw him smirk and move his hands in some odd motions. The next thing I knew, several spikes were stuck in mid air. This was the first chance I got to actually get a good look at them. Surprisingly, they were a strange blue crystal sort of thing. _Did he just freeze time? No, I don't think that he would've been caught in the fire if he could. Nor would he have even been scratched by those spikes. And what the hell are those anyway? Ice?_ I watched in astonishment as Lubbock made the spikes fall with a flick of the wrist.

"Ah, ah, ah. You move one muscle and I'll make your heart explode," said Lubbock.

It was at this point that I saw the moonlight gleam off of something coming out of his coat sleeve. _Strings? Wiring?_ As I watched him slightly close his hand before reopening it repeatedly, I heard someone gasp. Curiosity taking over, I crawled over to the treeline and saw a woman with long blue hair, and a general's uniform, on one knee with a hand pressed against her heart. Then she winked, and before I knew it, a guy in blue plate armor cut the wires and released the woman. Lubbock had a look on his face that showed he was absolutely terrified.

"What was that about moving a muscle? You'll make my heart explode? Typical assassin trash. All talk, no action."

"General Esdeath, shall I dispose of him?" asked the man in the armor.

"No Wave, I will," replied Esdeath as she formed a spike in her hand.

"Oh crap," noted Lubbock as he reeled back and prepared to send out his strings again.

In the blink of an eye and before Lubbock could prepare himself, he was struck in the shoulder. The spike dug clean into his shoulder and instantly froze it solid. I watched in horror as his arm and chest soon were covered in ice. Soon after that, his legs and his other arm were frozen, leaving his head to slowly be covered in ice. His screams for help echoed through the air. Watching this unfold, send a jolt throughout my entire body, allowing me to suddenly feel my legs again. I launched up from my prone position and raced to Lubbock, but it was too late. My green haired friend was now a human ice cube. And the thing was responsible.

"Ah, how touching. He looks upset about how his friend is now about as useful as a slab of ice. Would you like your friend to be thawed out?" she asked.

Without thinking, I blurted out my answer, "Of course I would!"

"Very well," replied Esdeath with a sadistic smile as she snapped her fingers. True to her word, Lubbock thawed quickly. As soon as he finished thawing out, he gasped a few times, attempting to catch his breath.

"Shiro?" asked Lubbock in disbelief at his state of health.

Before I could reply however, a wall of ice surrounded him and forced me out of the way. As soon as he had been thawed out, he had been placed in yet another icy prison. I watched as spikes extended from one wall to the other. Lubbock repeatedly dodged them over and over again. Sadly though, like earlier, his luck ran out once more as a spike pierced his foot, pinning him to one spot. Then one shot from the ground and into his other leg, making sure there was no way he could dodge.

Unable to watch anymore, I repeatedly struck the icy walls with my sword, chipping away at it. I ended up making quick work of the wall. And upon breaking through, the entire thing melted, excluding the spikes that weren't connected to it. As soon as I could I started sawing away at the second spike since I could get underneath the entry point.

"Shiro, there's no use. Just go. It would be better if only one of us died than both."

"Yeah, and it would be better if neither of us did, so shut up!"

"Ah, how touching. Too bad it has to end so soon," said Esdeath. Immediately after, a look of shock covered Lubbock's face.

I felt a hand grip my collar and felt myself get thrown back. I rolled a few feet away and when I finally stopped, I heard a bloodcurdling scream of pain. When I looked up, I was horrified by what I saw. I saw Lubbock, with several ice spikes piercing his body and exiting the opposite side. The spikes, were no longer the icy blue, they were now a crimson red. I stared in absolute horror as my friend bled to death. Then, I turned my attention to the people responsible. Wave and Esdeath. Those monsters are the reason this happened. Overcome by rage, I stood and drew my sword. I held my sword out in one hand and closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, I was in front of the cell again. I could see the man was smiling and simply reached through the bars of the cage. Without hesitation, I took his hand and he took over. I watched as my body moved with reckless abandon. If it hadn't been for my anger towards the unfortunate enemies he was facing, I would've been worried about my body. As the battle continued on, he showed no signs of slowing down, while Wave was doing just that. He was unable to counterattack as he had tired himself out by trying to avoid any attacks sent his way.

Eventually Wave got backed against a wall with no escape. Then just before an attack was sent his way, a wall of ice appeared between them. Esdeath then quickly made a giant pillar of ice behind the wall with herself and Wave on top of it.

"Wave, you failed. We shall discuss your punishment back at base. Now leave," stated Esdeath in a very stern tone. And with a nod and a sigh of relief mixed with frustration, he swiftly escaped.

The entire time my sword had been clashing against the ice, attempting to chip it away. Sadly, this failed terribly as not even a scratch could be seen on it.

"Don't waste your time. Unlike the ice from earlier, this is impossible to break."

Hearing this, he calmed down, resting the sword on his shoulder and staring up at Esdeath as if they were going to have a friendly chat.

"Speak woman. Otherwise, leave and quit wasting my time."

"Ah, straight to the point. I like that. And since you want to get straight to business, then I will. I have a proposition for you."

The man simply stood there, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, not exactly you, but the boy you're controlling. So if you can hand the reins back to him, that would be great," she said with a smirk.

The man simply sighed, closed his eyes and got back in his cage.

When I opened my eyes, I immediately glared at her, "What do you want?"

"I'd like for you to join my ranks. I can see you have unrefined talent. Join me and reach your full potential."

I laughed. _She really thinks I'll join her after what she did? Unbelievable. Besides she probably would turn me into her superiors upon capture._

"If you really think I'll join you, you are sorely mistaken. Besides, after what you just did to Lubbock, you're lucky you're up there and I'm not."

This response earned a deep sigh from the blue haired woman on top of the pillar.

"I see. Then next time we meet. You will die," she said before leaving.

As she left my sight, I heard a deep, pain filled, grunt from behind me. When I turned around, I saw Lubbock struggling to stand until he finally made it to his feet. Out of utter shock, I slowly approached him. Then, suddenly, he fell straight into me. That's when I completely broke down and turned into a complete sobbing mess.

"Lubbock, don't you dare die on me buddy. Don't you dare!'

It took a few minutes to get a response. And when he did finally reply, he didn't even open his eyes, "Sorry buddy. This is the end of the line for me. I'll see you when this is all over."

When he was finished, his entire body went limp. Unable to let go, I quickly placed him down and tried to stop whatever bleeding I could by applying pressure. No matter how hard I tried, there was just too many wounds. Then eventually the rest of Night Raid met up with us. They ended up getting a doctor to come and do what he could, although how little it was. Then everything became a blur and I can't remember anything.

 _November 15_ _th_ _, 752_ _10:12 AM_

It's been about a week since the attack on the base. Since the attack, we've been on the run constantly, looking for a new place to call home. We eventually settled for an old fortress on the other side of a mountain range from the capital. Although, our newfound location now meant launching ops in the capital were going to be increasingly difficult and take even more time. Even at our old base, we were having trouble making a mark on the empire. And now, any effort we made towards our goal were quickly brushed aside before we could capitalize on any sort of opening. There was also the elephant in the room with the vegetablization of Lubbock. He was unable to move, speak, or even open his eyes. He was basically lifeless. This wasn't surprising though considering the man had been impaled by large ice spikes. Heck it was a miracle that he was able to hang on as long as he did without proper medical attention.

As I finished my reflection on the past week, I looked over at Lubbock. _You've got to pull through dude._ If it hadn't been for the machine allowing him to breathe, there would be no motion in the room at all. Then there was the heart monitor that I could swear was broken. How else could someone in Lubbock's position have a normal heart rate? I stopped my thoughts as Leone entered. Without breaking the silence, she looked at me for any sign that things took a step in the right direction. It hurt to have to shake my head no. _What's the point of lying?_ I watched as Leone's head dropped and she stared at the ground. She then walked over and took a seat next to Lubbock. I then saw her mouth moving, but heard no sound come out. Taking this as a private moment between them, I left the room.

As I walked away from the infirmary, I began to think. _What could I have done to save him? I could've done something, I know it! If anything, it should've been me that got hurt. Then it wouldn't have been as bad. At least then it would've been the newest member._ My train of thought ended when I entered the kitchen to see Doc and Akame. Akame, had been washing dishes from breakfast while Doc was sitting at the table reading something.

"Hey Doc," I started as I approached him, "any news on the cause of the temporary paralysis?"

It took him a moment to remember what I was talking about before replying, "Oh that. From what you told me, I assume it was possibly caused by the shock of the fall plus the weight of Lubbock on your back. But, I could be wrong. I can't really see what happened considering that you're up and moving like normal. And I doubt you'd appreciate me cutting you open to see if anything is messed up when there's a chance there's not."

"Yeah, I would like to not take that risk," I said as I laughed lightly.

"Temporary paralysis? Shock of the fall? Shiro, what is he talking about?" asked Akame as she stared at me.

"I had to jump out of the third floor window, the one next to the stairwell, to get Lubbock and myself out of the building. When we landed, I wasn't able to stand because my legs refused to respond. And when they did, it was too late," I informed her as I stared at the floor out of shame.

Then, she surprised me by simply hugging me and saying, "I'm glad you're okay. It's bad enough Lubbock could slip away any moment. Losing both of you would be unbearable," stated Akame. Soon realising what she said, she pulled away with a shade of red on her face that would put any tomato to shame,"To the cause! It would be unbearable to lose both of you, to the cause."

I couldn't help but smile at how strange she was acting. I had never seen Akame backpedal like that. Strangely enough, unlike usual it wasn't thought out or planned, it was rushed and hastily thrown out there. When I thought more into this, I could feel my face heat up tremendously.

Quickly, I tried to make the situation at least a bit less awkward, "So any idea on our next mission? Like, when it might come up?"

Her face soon turned as emotionless as ever, "No. That's one of the downsides of our line of work. A mission could come up at any second. Some take priority over others and some have to wait. It's the nature of this occupation."

"I see. So we technically have no free time. We are always on the clock, in a manner of speaking."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Yep, ain't no rest for the wicked."

After that, the day went on as usual. I finished up my part of the work around the base, which included taking stock of our food supplies, sweeping the halls and helping restore the fortress where I could. Ever since we found it, we've been restoring the fortress little by little. This comes with pros and cons though. The pros are that it's a bit nicer than living in a rundown castle and you're probably not going to step on an animal on your way to get a midnight snack. The cons however are that due to the fact that the trees around the fortress were removed when it was in it's prime, there's not much preventing people from noticing us. So if the empire comes knocking, then it'll be a bloodbath, even with imperial arms. Thankfully, the castle does have several escape tunnels, though not all have been mapped out yet.

Eventually, night time rolled around and everyone met in the makeshift lounge. As Akame and I entered, I felt everyone's eyes look at us, more specifically, me. Quickly Najenda signaled for us to take a seat on the empty couch to the right of her. I scanned the room, looking for any signs of them messing with us, and I came up with nothing. Everyone's faces were serious, even Sheele's. _If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're sizing me up for something. But then, why was Akame also being given these looks? What had she done? Hell, what did I do?_

Finally, Najenda broke the silence, "I assume you are wondering what's going on."

Strangely, only I nodded in response. _I guess I'm going to be doing the talking for us. Great._

"Well Shiro, as we all know, you acquired an imperial arms during your first mission, which ended in a failure. Now, this wouldn't be so bad if it had been any other one. But you obtained, kyojin no ken. As you know, the sword will give you incredible skill and a tolerance to things such as pain. But like every other teigu, it has downsides as well. In order to receive the full benefit of it, you must surrender your body to the demon of a man inside the sword, Yoshiharu. The more you use the sword and surrender your body to Yoshiharu, the more difficult it will be to retake control from him."

"Okay, then I won't use it anymore."

"It's not that simple. Upon using the sword once, you link your subconscious with his. And even if you stop using the sword, that link will not be affected. Therefor, for the rest of your life, you will have his voice in the back of your head, trying to coax you into giving him control once more. For example, once there was a user that had been able to live with the voice in his head after he laid down his weapon. He lived a normal life, got married, had children, and lived the life many thought was mere fantasy. Then, when he was in his 8os, he couldn't take it anymore. He tried to steal the sword from it's owner at the time, and failed. He was then placed in a psychiatric hospital for the remainder of his life due to his condition."

"How many times did he allow Yoshiharu to take control of his body?"

"Eight times. And in case you're wondering, the man who wielded it before your father, used it five times before going off his rocker."

Silence soon filled the room as I tried to comprehend what had been said. _Oh my god. I've been playing a game of psychological cat and mouse without even realizing it. That settles it, I can't use that sword again!_ I visibly trembled at the realization of the danger I could face, even at home. That's when I heard it, a barely audible whisper of gargled words. That words were impossible to comprehend, but I could tell they weren't friendly. Quickly, I started trying to tune them out, but to very little success. Every time I would drown out the whispers, they'd become barely loud enough to be heard again. I guess someone noticed how out of it and scared I must've looked, because I quickly received a hard slap to the face. Thankfully, I completely forgot the whispers when I saw a shocked Akame staring at Bro as he lowered his hand.

"Shiro! Pull yourself together! This is no time to break down, this is a time to stand up and show you don't need that stupid sword," exclaimed Bro as he grabbed my collar and held me off the ground.

Upon being lifted up, I could feel a glare burrowing into the back of my head. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw Akame with a look of seriousness on her usually calm face.

"Put. Him. Down."

I then noticed my feet were where they should be, the ground.I quietly thanked Akame as her face of pure anger turned into one of worry.

"Are you okay? You started shaking like you were being frozen. You started mumbling jibberish," she stated while placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Um, y-yeah," I stuttered.

Then for the second time today, I was caught off guard by a hug given by Akame.

"You realize what you've got to do right?"

My response was almost a whisper, but was loud enough for my target to hear, "Yes, I do."

As we separated, I quickly looked away from Akame and to Najenda. She seemed to assume I was waiting on what she was going to say in the first place.

"Shiro. I feel like I know what your response will be, but I guess I should still give you your options. You can either abandon your imperial arms or no long associate yourself with Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army, and be forbidden to return. If you decide to leave, and return, you will be killed on sight."

I took no time at all to decide my course of action, "I won't use it anymore. I know it'll be tough but, it's for the best. The last thing we want is for Yoshiharu to gain control over my body and go absolutely psycho."

"Then it's decided. Kyojin no ken will be sent back to Revolution HQ with a strict warning not to use it. You on the other hand, you will be placed on the queue to receive another teigu. I'm glad you decided to stay kid."

I chuckled and plopped into my seat on the couch again and the meeting went on as it would any other. We were given details on the restoration of the fortress and how we were to receive help with it. We were also vaguely hinted at the HQ being annoyed with us consuming so much food and still being a fairly small group. When we heard this, the entire room stared at our little glutton Akame as she sat there without caring about what the HQ thought. After a few moments of silence the entire room erupted into laughter, knowing they'd just have to get used to it. We all knew that trying to sate Akame's appetite was like throwing food into a black hole, it was pointless.

As the meeting concluded, and we all left the room, I caught up with Leone and convinced her to talk to me in private, all the while enduring her teasing about it.

"So what did you need to talk to me about little bro?" asked Leone.

"Ok, I need some sort of outside opinion. I don't know if I'm reading into this way too much or something but it's been eating at the back of my head since it happened," I started before my words turned into nonsensical ramblings.

"Woah, there tiger. Just tell me what it is."

"Ironic how you're calling me tiger."

"I turn into a lion smartass."

"What's the difference?"

"Shut up and get to what you wanted to talk about."

"Ok, here it is," I began. I told Leone everything that happened this morning, the entire thing from beginning to end and was sure to go over important details. When I finished the story, she took a moment to think, before getting a massive grin plastered to her face.

"Aw, looks like Night Raid has two lovebirds! I thought you two would never hurry this up. Honestly, you have been playing ring around the relationship for freaking ever now, without even noticing it!"

"Leone, you are kind of living in a possible future. I never said we were anything more now," I said, shutting her up.

For the next few seconds, everything was silent. She seemed to go from exaggeratedly happy to deep in thought in seconds. I watched as her face twisted as she went through different ideas. Finally, she seemed to settle on one and her typical smile returned.

"Shiro, I have the perfect plan!"

"Plan to do what?"

"Plan to get you and Akame together of course! What else would I think so hard about?"

"Do you really want that answer?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh shut up before your big sis decides not to help you out," she said as she pulled me into a headlock.

The rest of the day was occupied by Leone telling me a plan, and me shooting it down immediately by poking holes in it. Eventually, even Leone ran out of ideas to 'help' me. _Well, it's about time she gave up. It's impossible. With Akame as the target, no plan is foolproof. Wait, do I even want this to turn into something? No, no I don't._ I then stood from where I was sitting and stretched, letting out a low groan.

"Leone, I appreciate you trying to help, but now that I think about it, I'm not even sure I like her like that," I said as I started walking away.

As I passed the library on the way to the bedrooms, I caught a glimpse of Mein, Bro, and Akame sitting at a table trying to come to an agreement about something. Unfortunately I couldn't hear what they were saying because of how fast I walked past. _Hmmm, I wonder….. Nah, they couldn't be._

When I finally got to my room, I flopped onto my bed with an 'oof'. I shifted around for a bit until I was comfortable. Than I heard a knock on my door. I silently cursed my luck as I sat up.

"Come in!"

Slowly, the door opened to reveal a pair of red eyes.

 _I take that back._


	5. Chapter 5

_November 15_ _th_ _, 752 6:27 PM_

I silently motioned for her to come in as I swung my feet back off my bed and stood. When she came in, she left the door completely open. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I saw something down by the floor peaking in before I glanced down at it.

"Shiro. I think it's time we addressed the issue between us," stated Akame as she broke the silence.

"Issue? What issue?" _Please don't be talking about what I think you are._

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about."

"I'll give you a hint, you were talking about it with Leone after the meeting ended," she said matter of factly. _Crap._

"Oh that. What about it?"

"Three words, 'Night Raid Lovebirds'."

"Leone said that not me. Besides, I said that was a possible future. Probably as possible as me and Mein being anything, and you know how I feel about her."

This seemed to shock her as she didn't even look me in the eyes. It took me a few seconds before I realized what I had actually just said, "I- I didn't mean it like that Akame, I definitely like you more than her. Heck, you're the best friend I've got here."

I couldn't see it, but I knew she was smiling out of my sight, so I awaited her reply.

"That's nice to know," she grew silent for a few moments before breaking the silence once more, "Are we?"

I stood in utter confusion for several moments, racking my brain for the answer to her question, and ultimately settling on, "I don't know. That's not something I'm very experienced in."

This answer seemed to satisfy her as she turned around to face me once more, "I guess I can't blame you. Before you joined us, you stayed in the same place for maybe a week or so. That doesn't leave much of a chance to get to know someone. I don't know where the path we're on is taking us, or if it'll end well for us. So for now, we take things one step at a time and figure it out as we go?"

"That sounds easier than diving in head first. And a lot smarter."

"Good."

"I think we should start things off by dealing with our eavesdropper."

"Oh, you noticed too?"

"Yep, and I think it's bout time to for her to come out. Unless she wants to be in very big trouble."

Akame and I then stood facing the door, awaiting whoever was listening to us to come in. Eventually, Leone slowly inched her way into view, causing our disappointed looks to have a target.

"How did I know it was you?"

"Maybe it was her terrible stealth skills."

"Or her failed attempt at being cupid."

"Or maybe it's that face melting smell of cheap sake that she always drinks."

"Hey, it's the only kind I can afford on my salary," stated Leone in a low and embarrassed voice.

"Either way, I'm disappointed in you Leone. I thought I made myself clear last time that eavesdropping on teammates isn't something you should do."

"But then how would I find out things like this?"

"You'll find out when everyone else does, when we want you to."

"So you're admitting you're a thing?"

"When did we say that?"

"Just now."

"Leone, you read way too far into this stuff."

"You didn't deny it!" yelled Leone as she tackled the two of us in a massive hug.

"Leone, when I get free, you're dead," I said as we got smothered between Leone and my floor.

Eventually, she allowed us to get off the floor and left before we could.

"She thinks she escaped, be she needs to remember, it's our turn to cook tonight."

I couldn't help but smile at this thought. Akame can be almost like a moving statue and show no emotion. Then moments later, she could show any of the plethora of emotions that anyone could show, which really surprised me when I first learned of this. It shocked me that after going through the training to be an emotionless killer, that she could still feel things like happiness.

 _November 31_ _st_ _, 752 9:12 PM_

I stood on a rooftop, watching every move Leone made. Every move she made, had a reason. Every fidget, a purpose. And every small motion, a meaning. We were in a medium sized city that wasn't too far from the capital for us to not be able to accept jobs from. As we searched, we had several close calls with police patrolling the streets due to a strict curfew.

Eventually, she stopped and hid in an alley, signalling that it was time for a break. I then decided to review the mission details to make sure I knew what I was looking for. _Young man, around mid twenties. Average length black hair. Big, muscled. Unmistakeable. Walks with an unnerving confidence about him._ I sighed and put the target information back into my inner coat pocket. _Yeah, not like there's a million people that fit that type of person. The informant could've at least given us some more info to go on, like a skin color or scar or something distinguishable._ I finally stood up and surveyed the area from where I was. That's when I saw him, he was walking around like he owned the place, even made eye contact with some police as he passed them. _Or he could just so happen to show up as I criticize our informant and make me look like an ass._ _He fits the description perfectly._

I quickly started dashing across the rooftops and soon came to one that he'd pass in a few moments and prepared myself to ambush him. As I drew my sword and brought my mask up, the chimney I was using as cover blew apart, sending me tumbling down off the roof followed by quite a few bricks. Luckily though, I was able to grab the edge of the roof and keep from falling and subsequently prevent myself from getting crushed by a ton of bricks. As I climbed back on to the roof, I heard him laughing.

"Wow, so that was the menacing Night Raid? That was absolutely pathetic. No wonder they say the empire is becoming weak, they can't even handle weaklings like you," he said before turning to walk away.

I decided to use the opening granted to me to attack, I quickly leapt into the air and brought down an overhead slash aimed for his torso. Then something simply threw me into a nearby building like I was a ragdoll. I smashed into the wall so hard that I crashed straight through it and rolled to the the next wall. As I forced my eye to reopen, I saw our target step through the hole in the wall with a menacing grin plastered on his face.

"Well, I guess Night Raid isn't as tough as people make them out to be! To think that I thought I was going to actually have a fight worthy of using my imperial arms. What a shame."

I began trying to get up but failed constantly before being forcefully lifted into the air and smashed into the ceiling head first. This process repeated several times over until my eyes were unable to open due to the pain.

"You've got a hard head I'll give you that kid, but that won't matter once I rip it off your body."

Then for a few seconds, there was silence, then before I knew it, I fell and heard something or someone crash into a nearby cabinet.

"I don't appreciate you threatening my little brother," said Leone as she stood next to me.

"Lucky shot girlie, but let's see how you fare in a head on fight."

Then, without another word, Leone rushed the man and began swinging. And with the quickness of a cat and the power of a lion, she then pounced on him and took the large man down with a thud. Finally, as their brawl continued, it grew further away and eventually left ear shot and left me in peace on the floor of someone's living room. Soon after, I heard footsteps come from outside and enter through the hole in the wall. Assuming it to be Leone, I easily allowed myself to be carried away as consciousness left me.

However, peace seemed to think I was unworthy as I was dropped whilst the person carrying me, whom I though was Leone, tumbled to the ground. Another scuffle then began between the two people. No words were spoken, and the only sounds I could hear were the grunts of attacks hitting their mark. This went on for several minutes before I could tell someone was getting the upper hand after a series of nearby crashes. When I forced my eyes open, I was happy to see that Leone had been smacking around some random guy that looked like a typical thug.

She then took him down and placed a foot on his back, keeping him down, "Why were you trying to take my friend away?"

The man had a panicked look plastered to his face as he struggled under Leone's boot, "I heard you two were Night Raid and since there was a bounty on Night Raid in general, I figured I'd cash in. You have to understand, work isn't exactly common around here, and I have to eat. Please let me go! I won't tell anyone!"

At this point the man was crying his eyes out, and Leone being the saint she is, allowed him to get up, "This night didn't happen. You tell anyone, and getting money will be the least of your worries. "

I watched as the man was about to run away. Then I the next thing I know, I'm on my feet and running my sword through the back of his head with it exiting his mouth. I stood in confusion as his body went limp immediately after I severed the spine and he was only held up by the fact my sword had still yet to be withdrawn from him.

Only one word was able to exit my mouth as I stared at him, "What?"

"Really Shiro? Did you really have to kill him? I mean honestly, I was going to let him go since he wasn't a threat," announced Leone in a disappointed tone.

"I- I don't know. I just moved on instinct. I couldn't trust him to keep our identities a secret, especially since neither of us are known as members with wanted posters."

"You and I both heard him say he wasn't going to tell anyone. And yet you still killed him when his back was turned!"

"Do you really expect people like him to keep their word? Especially when money is on the line? You heard him, he needs money. And I can bet that if someone could give a description of one of us, they'd be compensated. We can't trust people with our identities! I know it's terrible but if we do, it'll just come back to bite us."

Silence then enveloped us as my words registered in Leone's mind. Finally, a few moments later, she nodded in agreement.

"Believe me, I wish we could go around screaming 'We're Night Raid!', but we can't risk it. With our base so far away, we have to do a lot of travelling during the day and get into position to start our mission as soon as night falls. If the guards know us by face, then we're doomed."

Leone's reply was simply a nod and and down cast stare at the ground.

"Now let's go get that guy from earlier, we don't want anyone else knowing our faces," I said calmly as I put away my sword.

With a newfound purpose other than the mission, we set off to scour the area in order to find our target. It didn't exactly take long to find him, he was sitting in an intersection talking to some guy in black armour with a short yellow cape. The two men seemed to be keeping things strictly business as I saw neither cracked a smile or anything as we watched from a nearby rooftop. I could tell Leone was getting anxious watching the two as she made sure her claws were sharp for about the seventh time.

Nudging her to get her attention, I grinned and said, "Chill, you'll get your shot at him. I'll make sure of that."

She just nodded and went back to watching the men talking. It took several moments before they both parted ways. The target began coming closer, causing me to unconsciously grin from ear to ear. As he got directly below us, I saw Leone get into a low stance to pounce. I then in turn slowly drew my sword and held it back handed. And as quickly as before, we attacked and caught him off guard, allowing us to get in a few lucky hits to his chest and arms. Regaining his composure, he easily forced us away to get some breathing room.

"So, you did survive. I should've known that you two wouldn't die so easily."

"Oh, I'm flattered. But flattery will get you nowhere," replied Leone with a snarky tone.

I simply waited for the first move to be made, whether it being by Leone, or the man in front of us, all the while remaining silent like a statue. Then before I could register it, Leone was already neck deep in the fight, getting in some good swipes with her claws. Before I even got involved in the fight, Leone had him constantly blocking and dodging without the ability to get any offense in. Deciding to only take clear attacks at him, I waited for him to dodge before almost cutting him in half from behind. Unfortunately, he heard me move to behind him and blocked my attack with ease. He then quickly shoved me away before failing to block and be cut up be Leone. It wasn't long before he was back on the defensive, dodging and blocking each of Leone's swings. Every now and then, I'd try to get in an attack, only to be blocked as well.

"Ok, I'm getting sick of this. Lets end it!" he yelled as he finally seemed to get serious.

Immediately, he had picked up Leone and thrown her into a wall head first, leaving her unconscious, and me to protect us both. He then turned his attention to me and smirked. Knowing that my only choice was to fight, I readied myself, angling the tip of my sword at his heart. There was complete silence between us as we stared each other down. Then, without any hesitation, he attacked. His speed was far greater than my own and we both knew it. I repeatedly blocked his attacks, forcing him to take a new approach. We repeated this process several times over before he finally got some distance from me. We both started catching our breath as I felt wounds open and blood run from them. That's when he started laughing in this dark, horrendous, bone chilling laugh.

"See? Even when you block my attacks, you get hit. There's no point! You should go ahead and give up!"

As much as I hate to admit it, he was right. In a straight up fight, I stand no chance, especially after losing my teigu. I had to find a way to catch him off guard or something. _But how?_ That's when I noticed his low center of gravity and that the dirt of the road was loose.

I then got into my stance once again and waited. He apparently took this as a challenge because he roared angrily and charged at me, throwing any caution he previously had to the wind. I couldn't help but smirk as I slipped by him and got a handful of dirt. As soon as he turned around, he was blasted with a faceful of dirt and started to frantically try and clean off his eyes.

As he tried to clean off his eyes, he began to scream, "That's cheating!"

Refusing to allow this advantage to go to waste, I repeatedly slashed at him. Following that, I kicked him in the shin and the back of the knee to bring him down. I soon twirled my sword before piercing his back. Shockingly, he was still alive and trying to stand. Finally, hoping to end it once and for all, I withdrew my sword from his back and beheaded him. As I sheathed my blade, I looked down at him and smirked.

"There's no such thing as cheating in war."

And with that I walked back over to Leone, who had begun to stir awake. Once I got to her, she had already gotten up and looked around for any indication of what happened. I then moved so she could see the aftermath.

"Wow, looks like you had fun."

"Not really. Excuse me," I said as I slipped past her, into the alley behind her and threw up.

"You sick or something? Don't tell me you ate Sheele's cooking again!"

"No," I replied while coming on from the alley,"I'm just not use to the whole killing thing yet. Hopefully I will be soon, throwing up after every kill probably isn't good for my health."

"I wouldn't count on it."

"What? Why not? Surely it gets easier to block out."

"You'd think that, but it doesn't. Believe me, I've been doing this for quite a while and it never gets any easier. You just have to remember, this isn't senseless killing. We are slowly but surely making this world a better place."

"Then what did that guy do?" I asked whilst pointing at the corpse in the street, "How was he guilty and deserving of death?"

"Shiro, don't start this. Please."

"I'm just asking a simple question. Either way, I'm glad the scumbag is dead."

"Honestly, I have no idea what he did, but it had to be something terrible to warrant us going after him."

"Why don't we know? I mean, heck it's us going out on the missions. Don't we deserve to know why he was our target?"

"That's up for debate, but that's not what we get paid to do. It's not our job to know why we need to kill them, but it is our job to kill them. And that's exactly what we did."

"True."

"Yeah, now let's head home, the sun will rise soon. And we don't want to be anywhere near here when it does."

"Couldn't agree more."

"Wait, he mentioned an imperial arms. Shouldn't we retrieve it from his body?"

"Good call, I'll grab it. We don't want you throwing up again, now do we?"

"True."

As Leone searched the body, she took several items from him that could've been it, including a necklace

And with that, we climbed to the rooftops and made our way the the edge of town. As we reached the forest bordering the town, we transitioned from rooftops to high branches to avoid any way of easily following us. Eventually we reached a small opening in the forest where the sun shone down onto a rock large enough for several people to sit on. It was there that we took a break and let the sun itself heat us up because the temperature was starting to drop as winter drew near. After a few moments of warming up, we continued on our way home.

 _December 1_ _st_ _, 752 11:32 AM_

It was lunch time by the time we got home, and I immediately flopped onto my bed once our brief reports were given to the boss. Later I'd have to write a full report on everything that happened during the mission. Until then however I wanted to at least relax a bit, without falling asleep, so my sleep schedule didn't go flying off the rails. In order to do that, I had to forcefully keep my eyes open for a while.

Eventually that proved to be too great of a challenge and I rolled off my bed and onto the floor. The floor being made of wood and being as cold as the outdoors, I instantly got to my feet to avoid it. But upon reaching my feet, I regretted my decision. My feet were beyond sore, and probably black and blue from the trek back home. But, I had to stay awake and laying down wasn't going to help that.

Determined to stay awake and keep my sleep schedule correct, I got up and decided to go for a walk. On the walk, I encountered the typical things that happened on base grounds, such as Akame training, Sheele trying to read a book but failing terribly due to it being upside down, and 'Bro' being ominous by staying away from everything else. Then, seeing that it was late, I went back to my room to write my report and write about all the interesting things that have happened recently in my journal. Thank god for my outstanding memory.

 _December 1_ _st_ _, 752 11:38 PM (Present Time)_

In a wrecked bedroom with overturned furniture and shattered glass peppering the floor in certain places, stood a young, raven haired teenage girl holding a small leather bound book with a clasp to keep it closed. Without the context of the situation, you'd think that the book was the most interesting thing in the world to her, and in a way you'd be right. Turns out, it was a journal, Shiro's journal to be exact, and possibly the only clue Night Raid had as to where he had gone.

Akame finally finished reading the entire journal, after hours of reading. However, even though it was obvious there was nothing left to be discovered from it, she wouldn't put it down. It was as if she stared at the blank page long enough that the answers would be revealed to the question that had been swimming through her mind for hours. _What happened to him?_

Silently, she closed the journal and fastened it, and approached the shattered window that looked out towards a forest, and beyond that, a mountain range.

With a barely audible voice, she whispered to herself, "Shiro, why?"


	6. Chapter 6

_December 2_ _nd_ _, 752 12:11 AM_

Rain pelted the forest relentlessly as a young man of about 17 years old slowly walked through it. His dark hair stuck to his skin as if they were one. As the man walked, two words echoed through his mind and sometimes even left his lips. The words were, "No escape". He did not stop, even when the rain had soaked through his clothes entirely, he continued to trudge through the forest.

Eventually, he made it to a road that went both ways and without a single thought, he started on his way to the left. Thanks to the road, he was able to walk a bit faster compared to going through the forest. Then after a bit of walking, he started to hear something other than nature. He listened closely, trying to determine if it was a threat or not. Sadly though, he was unable to determine the source of the noise, until he turned around to see a horse drawn carriage approaching. Instinctively, he turned to dive into nearby bushes, but realized there was no point as they had obviously seen him already. Soon, the carriage stopped and the door opened to reveal a man in his twenties. He was obviously wealthy, evident by the carriage and amount of guards.

"My lord, why have we stopped? We are nowhere near our destination," asked a guard from within the carriage.

"I cannot simply leave someone out in the cold, you know that," replied the man as he offered a seat to the drenched teen.

The young man slowly climbed in, preparing himself to run if something happened. Nothing peculiar happened, aside from the random stranger offering help, so he took a seat across from the kind man. As the door closed, the man across from him smiled and offered a hand, to shake.

"Hello, I am Rin. Rin Tsuyaka. What brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?"

Rin received no reply, except for a blank stare aimed at his hand. Eventually, he retracted his hand slowly and continued on with the conversation.

"Anyway, what's your name?"

Yet again, he received no answer. Rin was obviously starting to get annoyed by the silent treatment as he continued to press the boy across from him for answers. He repeatedly asked him questions such as where he was from, if he had any family, even started asking what color his hair was to make sure he had some functionality in his brain. All of which he received no answers for. With an annoyed sigh, he looked at the guard that was sitting with them and motioned for him to throw the boy out.

As the guard reached for the boy, Rin began to speak once more, "Honestly, what do you gain from just sitting there and giving us the silent treatment? Nothing."

Then, as soon as the guard grabbed the boy to get rid of him, something snapped in his mind. Like a switch was flipped, turning the adolescent from a seemingly harmless child, into something else. That's when a certain voice that had lied dormant this entire time, revealed itself. And all it needed was one word to make its order clear. Kill.

Upon receiving this order, he immediately twisted the arm grasping his shoulder to a point where it broke, earning a scream of pain from the guard. He then proceeded to smash his face through the wooden side of the carriage, before finally finishing him off by breaking his neck. Once the guard hit the floor, his attention then turned to Rin, who was cowering in the corner of the carriage. A look of terror was plastered to his face as he continued to get as close to the corner of the wall as he could. Unfortunately, he had no escape as the monster he was trapped with grabbed the tanto knife from the guard's belt, and threw it at him, piercing his jugular. He then exited the cart, only to be met by guards wielding swords and spears. Sadly though, they never stood a chance. Within minutes, all of them were on the ground, in a massive pool of blood. The boy showed no signs of remorse or sympathy for the fallen as he brushed his wet hair to the side and walked away.

Then, suddenly, he stopped and peered over his shoulder at the corpses, "The name is Koge."

He then continued on his way. He didn't know what his destination was, but he knew that he needed to get there or risk losing all control.

 _December 2_ _nd_ _, 752 3:07 AM_

As Koge continued down the road he began to run into more and more people. No one paid him no mind however as they were too busy with other things. It wasn't long before he happened upon a village of people. Thankfully, most of the inhabitants were passed out drunk.

As he searched the small village for any clue of what he was looking for, he stumbled upon a crate with a raven insignia. The revolutionary army's insignia. Upon forcing it open, he was frustrated to see his object of interest was not there. However, he did find several scrolls that might point him in the right direction. As he read the scrolls, he found very little of use to him. That is until he came across one about a snowed in cart belonging to the revolutionary army several miles away. It went on to talk about it's cargo being extremely dangerous and how assistance was needed as soon as possible.

Clearly, this was what Koge was looking to find causing him to grin and utter a single word, "Gotcha."

Stuffing the scroll into his pocket, he ran in the general direction of the convoy.

 _December 2_ _nd_ _, 752 5:49 AM_

Rain continued to fall as the darkness of night began to disappear thanks to the rising sun. This came as shocking news to Akame as she had been rummaging around the remnants of Shiro's room for any indication of where he went. Although it was a fairly small room, she definitely would not accept the fact that there wasn't some way of finding out where he had gone. She had often gone over the same thing several times over, asking the same questions regarding the same things. She even read through the journal again.

Then suddenly, the door opened, causing Akame to jump, startled. As she swung around to see who it was, anxiety rushed through her veins as she hoped her friend had already come back. However, sadly this was not the case as when she turned, she saw that it was merely Leone standing in the doorway.

"Akame? Did you even get any sleep?"

"No, I've been looking for any sign of where Shiro has gone," she replied in her typical monotonous tone as she went back to searching.

"Akame. We tore this room apart looking for clues and found absolutely nothing. The only thing that was obvious is that there was a struggle in here."

"We still may have missed something. Maybe a hidden message in his journal, or something. I don't know anymore Leone."

"How about you go a get some sleep or at least eat something, searching while tired will solve nothing. I'll see if I can find something in here, fresh eyes or whatever that saying is."

"I.. I guess you're right. Searching while tired is useless, I'm gonna go take a nap."

"Good, I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Thank you."

And with that, Akame left the room, heading towards her own. As Leona searched around, she found a broken picture frame, with the photo gone. As she thought back to what the photo would've been, she noticed a small wad over in a corner a few feet away. Unraveling it, she realized it must've been the missing picture. Once she saw the picture, tears slowly welled up in her eyes. The picture was of everyone in Night Raid standing in front of their old base, with her accidentally choking out Shiro, who is turning blue, while Akame and Lubbock frantically tried to loosen her arm from his neck. In the background of the picture, Sheele can be seen looking confused as to what is happening as Najenda and "Bro" chat.

At this point, a single tear ran down as she stared at the picture, "Where'd you go little bro?"

 _December 2_ _nd_ _, 752 4:24 PM_

"You've got to be kidding me. Out of all the things you morons forget, you forget to bring snow shovels. It's December you nimrods! What? Did you expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows? No, it's all clouds and a butt ton of snow!" screamed a man at the top of his lungs as his men huddled around a fire in a small cave.

"Sir, we didn't have much time to pack for a trip through the mountains. We had to grab whatever was on hand at the time, which wasn't exactly much," pleaded one of his subordinates.

"Excuses, excuses! At least you idiots can send and S.O.S. properly."

"Sir! Someone's approaching!" shouted the sentry standing next to the cave entrance.

"Finally! It's about time they came to get us!" replied the head officer of the group as he approached the exit to make sure they were actually there. But by the time he got there, nothing could be seen except a massive amount of snow.

"I swear, I saw someone out there!" pleaded the sentry as he noticed the death glare he was being given.

"Get out of my sight."

"Yes sir!"

As the man ran back into the cave, the officer turned back to see a man approaching. His face was covered by his long jet black hair, with hints of red. As he grew closer, the officer began to notice the small things people would typically miss at a distance. Like the gash on his arm, the holes in his pants where small amounts of blood and dirt mixed. The fact that this man was also smiling, was unnerving him greatly. Once the mysterious person was about 20 feet away, the officer started backing away. Eventually, he tripped over a rock and gained the attention of his group. Startled, they all quickly grabbed their weapons and got ready to defend their leader.

"Who are you? What do you want?" demanded a soldier as he held a spear shakily in his hands.

He received no answer as the man stopped next to the pile of cargo that had once been on the cart. The man eyed the boxes curiously, as if trying to determine the contents of each just by looking at them. The suddenly, he approached a long rectangular crate that was sitting off to the side, a few feet from the rest of the pile. As he began to force the lid off the crate, the officer remembered the contents of such crate.

"Quick, attack! We cannot allow him to get inside that crate!"

As they each began to charge their intruder, a light smirk appeared on his face. He quickly disarmed the first guard a kicked him into a nearby wall, knocking him unconscious. The next guy wasn't as lucky, as the man, now equipped with a spear, crouched down and stabbed upwards into the next guards chest, exiting his upper back. In order to kill two birds one stone, or in this case two guards with one spear, he kicked the end he had let go, spinning his previous victim around several times, and slitting another guard's throat in the process. The next guard was almost as easy to eliminate as he thought that since he had a shield, he was protected. The assailant quickly ran up the shield and flipped off it, landing behind him. The guard realized his mistake far too late as he turned and received a kick to the side of his jaw, snapping his neck in one swift motion.

Upon finishing his final attacker, he looked over towards the officer as he shakily got up in a last ditch effort to do his duty of protecting the cargo. Both men knew the outcome if this were to go on; The officer would die, painfully. Unwilling to give up without a fight however, he charged at the man responsible for the death and gore they were surrounded in. Surprisingly, the officer held his own against the assailant, although it seemed he was holding back considerably. Eventually the mysterious perpetrator decided enough was enough and parried an attack, severing the officer's arm, before swiftly lobbing of his head.

Now, nothing stood in his way. Sauntering over to the crate he was opening, he grabbed the lid and threw it off, sending it into a nearby wall and making it splinter into pieces. Peering down into the crate he saw a box surrounded by hay, no doubt being used as a cushion of sorts. Curiosity getting the best of him, he opened said box to reveal a small gold ring with engravings far too intricate to be lettering. Quickly losing interest in the ring, he tossed it and the box over his shoulder without even bothering to close the box. The high pitched ding of the ring bouncing across the ground echoed throughout the cave before coming to an abrupt stop. Not paying the small detail any mind, he quickly scours through the crate, looking for his prize. Finally, he found it, a sword in a black leather sheathe, completely wrapped in some sort of cloth, leaving only one notable feature, a small orb connected to the pommel by a chain. Once it was uncovered, the orb began to shine, as if it had finally found its owner once more. Reaching into the crate to claim his reward, he gripped the sword about halfway down the blade before he began to hear noises behind him against the far wall.

Peeking over his shoulder, he noticed the first soldier that attacked him, slowly standing up. When he finally stood up, he looked around, only to see all his comrades dead on the floor in a complete mess. In a fit of anger, he started to go for his sword, until something caught his eye. Hoping it might help him, he quickly grabbed a small metallic object from the ground. Turns out the object was the recently discarded ring. As it was picked up however, the ring began to glow, as if it was being heated up. The soldier then began trying to put it on his finger, in a foolish effort to stop it from melting his hands. As soon as he had done so, he erupted into a giant ball of fire. In obvious agony, the man began running around in a desperate attempt to quell the fire, but to no avail.

Minutes later, after the man had finally died due to the fact he was burned alive, the fire disappeared suddenly, leaving only a pile of ashes and a faint glow. Curiosity clearly got the best of the last man standing as he approached the pile of ashes and began to spread them out in order to find the cause for the fire. Once he found it, he carefully picked it up, ready to throw it at a moment's notice. But that moment never came as the ring never began to heat up or glow. Taking this as a sign of good luck, he stuffed the ring into his pocket and left the cave, heading back the way he came, back home.

 _December 3_ _rd_ _, 752 6:34 AM_

Silence. Nothing, but silence came from the Night Raid base. This was probably due to the fact only one person was awake. Sleep had either come and gone quicker for her than others, or eluded her altogether, she couldn't exactly tell. All she knew was her best friend was still missing, and they had no leads as to where he was. It ate her alive that she knew nothing about the entire ordeal. Even the smaller details, such as a general idea of what happened were clouded in mystery. Out of sheer frustration at the amount of uncertainty that surrounded her thoughts, she decided to try and clear her mind with training.

As she got to the training dummies, she started to block things from her mind. Starting with Shiro and his disappearance, then proceeding on to other things until her mind was blank. When this happened, she got into her stance in front of several dummies, and mentally counted down. Upon reaching 0, she attacked, quickly slashing downwards onto its left shoulder and going through its right hip. She then dodged a nonexistent slash and hacked another dummy to pieces. She continued to moved between the dummies fluidly as if fighting was the only thing she knew.

Once she was finished, she took a seat on a rock bordering the training arena. Everything seemed so serene, the wind blew lightly as the birds began to sing their usual melody. The world seem so peaceful, like there wasn't any crime or a war going on. It was like everything was just a bad dream, just waiting to be forgotten and cast aside. She was about to let her mind wander to what it would be like if that was the case, when something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. As she scanned the area it seemed to be in, all she saw was the was of the base. The more she looked, the higher she started checking. Eventually she noticed something out of the ordinary, it was Shiro's curtains. She was certain she had tied them so they wouldn't open so no birds or insects decided to make their home in there.

Assuming them to simply have just came untied, she slowly made her way back to tie them together again. But something kept popping into her mind, the question of what the heck did she notice, what untied the curtains, why hadn't she noticed it earlier? All these questions echoed throughout her head as she started sprinting down the hallway and up the stairs. Once she reached her intended floor, she drew her sword yet again, prepared to use lethal force on the intruder. Quickly, she got to the door, which had been left cracked open and peered inside. What, or rather, who she saw shocked her enough to drop her sword instantly. Standing in the middle of the room, stood a man with almost shoulder length black hair, a black shirt that was clearly seen its fair amount of fights, along with a matching pair of pants.

The man stood there, staring at a busted photo he had picked up off of the side table. It was the photo of him being accidentally choked out by Leone. He let out a light chuckle as he sat it back on the table and started to examine the rest of the room. He moved to an overturned dresser and set it back upright before proceeding to the next thing. Eventually, everything was back how it was a few nights prior, except for the shattered glass and such. Feeling like he was being watched, he turned to see Akame standing in the now wide open door.

"Oh, hey Akame. What's up?" he asked casually.

This choice of words proved to be poorly chosen as he received a swift slap across his face.

"What's up? What's up?!" screamed Akame as she did her best to mitigate the height difference between them, "You've been gone for days and that's all you have to say? We were worried sick about you, me especially! Hell, I've spent more time in here searching for an explanation as to why you were gone than I did anywhere else! Shiro, do you even know how long you've been gone, because I do. You have been gone for almost 31 hours!"

"What's the big deal? I mean we go on missions that can have us away from home for weeks at a time," retorted Shiro, defensively.

"Yeah, but then I know where you're at and that you'll be back!" exclaimed Akame, a bit louder than she meant.

"Well, I'm back, am I not?"

"Yes, you are," started Akame before she saw the cuts all over him, "Where'd you get these from?"

"I got lost in the woods, and ended up going through a giant patch of thorns. I would've gone around them, but by the time I noticed I was in them, I was halfway through."

"Why didn't you notice until then? Surely you would've realized a lot earlier than halfway through."

"Because, I was being chased by a pack of coyotes, without my sword."

When Akame heard this, she cringed at the almost blatantly obvious lie. It was bad enough that he wasn't being upfront with her, but to the point of lying? It was like being spit in the face and told she was an idiot.

"Shiro. For one, coyotes don't typically hunt in packs in this area. Hell, I haven't seen any coyotes anywhere near here. And two, if you don't have your sword, then what's that on your back?" she inquired.

Knowing he was caught, he simply sighed heavily and hung his head. He stared at the ground, as if it had the answer to any question he asked it. He was wrong however, as the only response he got from it was silence. He knew if he told the truth, only bad things would happen. But if he lied, Akame would undoubtedly see right through it. With another sigh, he finally looked up and met Akame's harsh stare.

"I thought I was lucky. I thought that getting rid of the sword was the right thing to do. When I didn't hear any whispers or anything in the back of my head, I thought I was fine, that I had finally prevented something bad. Oh how wrong I was. For god's sake, I already went and got this back!" he exclaimed as he took a sword off his back and showed it to Akame.

Shock written across her face, she slowly took a few steps backwards, "W- what?" she stuttered.

"Exactly. The sword my father used. The sword that I used for a brief period of time. I went, tracked it down and took it back. Honestly, they were protecting pretty lightly, especially with it being so dangerous. You'd think they'd have more guards with it," noted Shiro as he unsheathed the sword to examine it.

That's when a horrifying thought crossed Akame's mind, 'What if the boss sees him with that sword? Or in general? Surely sooner or later they'll connect the disappearance of the sword to him and we'll have to eliminate him.'

"Shiro. Leave."

"Huh? Why?" he asked in confusion.

"Because. I don't want to have to kill you."

Now, it was Shiro's turn to stutter in shock at the sudden shift in Akame's attitude, "W- what?"

"If Najenda sees you, especially with that sword again, we'll have no choice but to attack."

Suddenly, the pair turned to the door when they heard running coming from down the hall. Before they could react, Leone had already gotten to the door, out of breath.

"Akame, I've been looking everywhere for you, you are going to want to come down to the infirmary," she said, panting heavily between words. When she finally looked up, she realized Shiro was standing there, as if he had never left, save for a few cuts and bruises, "When did he- nevermind, we need to get to the infirmary."

"Why? What is going on?" asked Akame.

"It's Lubbock. Doc says he doesn't have long." replied Leone as she threw her gaze to the ground.

Silence enveloped the room for what seemed like hours, when in reality, it was only around a minute. No one spoke, moved, or so much as breathed audibly.

Finally deciding to speak up, Shiro broke the silence, "Then we have no time to lose, let's hurry."

Taking the lead, he exited the room with Akame quick on his heels, and Leone not far behind her. Quickly rushing down the stairs, they made their way to the infirmary where the door was almost half open. Peering inside, they saw the other members of Night Raid, looking worriedly at their unconscious friend. Slowly, Akame widened the door and steeped in, followed by Leone while Shiro contemplated whether to go in from the hall. _What if the rest of them are mad? What if Najenda notices the sword? Will she give me a chance to talk? Or immediately order my elimination?_ Then his thoughts were interrupted, not by Yoshiharu, but by something he completely abandoned back when he had joined the group of assassins, his conscience.

"Shiro. WHat the hell are you doing?! You're friend is in there, on the verge of death, and you aren't even going to go see him?! The man is in such a sorry state because of you! The least you could do is visit him in his final moments!" it screamed.

As much as he hated to admit it, his conscience was right, it was his fault. _That's it. I don't care if Najenda has them hunt me down like a dog, I'm going to see my friend!_ He had decided, however, as soon as he was about to enter the room, a long high pitched beep rang out, marking the end. He hadn't realised it though until he was inside the room, staring at the heartbeat monitor. He watched in shock as the doctor pulled the blanket over his head and called the time. A mixture of emotions ran through him as he stared wide eyed at the covered hospital bed. Anger, sadness, guilt, and most of all, regret.

 _I never got to say goodbye…._


	7. Chapter 7

_December 3_ _rd_ _, 752 8:22 AM_

Everyone stood in silence as the heart monitor was turned off. No one wanted to believe that their friend had just passed. Leone approached the bed and simply broke down. As she balled her eyes out, Shiro could feel several sets of eyes on him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Najenda glaring at him menacingly. To him, it felt like she was burning a hole into the side of his head.

"Shiro. Welcome back," she said.

Shiro cringed, the others may have not noticed it but, he could tell there was venom in her words. He looked in the opposite direction of her to avoid her gaze. He knew why she seemed so cold to him though. Unlike the others, except for Akame, she knew the sword he had on his back was the one he gave up.

"It's, uh, good to be back," he replied in hesitation.

"Care to explain what happened? Why you left, why you're battered and bruised, why your room is in shambles, etcetera," she asked as she glared at the boy.

By now everyone could feel the tension in the room grow thicker by the second. No one dared to break the silence as the two stared at each other. However, this didn't last long as Najenda noticed he wasn't going to speak up.

"Shiro. I'm disappointed in you. First, you leave without so much as a note saying when you'd be back. Then you slaughter innocent civilians for no apparent reason, followed by murdering some of our comrades over a cursed sword. And after all that, you have the audacity to show your face here!"

"Boss I-," Shiro began before being cut off.

"I aught to order your immediate execution. But I won't. You can still be of use to us."

"What are you talking about?"

"You seem to have some semblance of control over yourself when you have the sword with you, am I right?" asked Najenda, completely avoiding Shiro's question.

"Yes, I do."

"Good. Then you will now be tasked with missions deemed too dangerous for the others."

"What?!"

"You heard me. You will be taking on missions seen as too dangerous for us to send the others on. Due to the fact you basically snapped and went to recover that cursed blade of yours, you are seen as a liability. A possibly useful liability," she said with a smirk.

"Please tell me you're kidding. You're sending me on suicide missions!?"

"No, I'm not. You volunteered for them when you went against us."

"Boss, you can't just throw him to the wolves like this!" exclaimed Mein.

"What? Mein, I thought you hated Shiro," said Najenda in utter confusion.

"Yes, I do. Hell, I'm all for getting rid of him, but this is the wrong way of going about that."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Sure while he is under control he's a nice young man that only wants the best for the world and would go to the ends of the earth for us if needed. But when he's not in control, he's a monster, a psychopath, a heartless killer that has no remorse. You may be willing to take your chances with him but I'm not going to put the success of the revolution on the line for one person! The army that's backing us? They're farmers, villagers, shopkeepers, all of them with barely any training. Very few, if any, would stand a chance in a head on, one on one fight with an average imperial soldier. The revolution hinges on if we can dispatch the emperor and prime minister. If we do that, they have a chance. If we don't, it'll be like lambs to the slaughter. So, if sacrificing him gives us a slightly better chance at winning, I'll do it."

Everyone stayed completely silent, with shock written on their faces. No one could believe what was happening, or more specifically, didn't want to believe. For Akame, shock soon turned to anger as she quickly began to despise her boss. It was bad enough that any of them could be killed at anytime for their actions, now her own boss was throwing her closest friend to the wolves. However, instead of letting her displeasure be known, she stormed out of the room. No one dared to follow her as she seemed to be overflowing with anger. A few moments later, everyone shifted their attention back to Shiro and Najenda, even Leone who had stopped crying a river and started seeing what was happening.

"From now on, you will have to find somewhere else to stay. Having you here is simply too dangerous," stated Najenda.

"Boss, trust me, if Shiro thought we were in danger because of him, he'd let us know," said Leone as she tried to reason with her boss.

"That may be true, however like i said, I'm not going to take that chance."

"I'm controlling myself right now am I not? Doesn't that say anything about the control I have over myself?" pleaded Shiro.

"True, but what if you suddenly lose control? How would we stop you, huh? It's no secret that you're a lot stronger when he's in control, so what would we do if you did lose control? Hell, what could we do? Nothing, that's what, that's why you can't stay here."

"So, after everything you are really going to throw me out and expect me to go on suicide missions?"

"Shiro, I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. If there was a way to keep us all safe and keep us all here, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but there's not."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, I am in control of myself!"

"And what if one day you're not? What if, one day you can't keep him from taking over, huh? I'll tell you what'll happen, he'll kill the ones closest to you, that includes Akame and the rest of us! Then he'll destroy everything else! Do you really want that!?" yelled Najenda.

This shocked everyone, especially Shiro. Then he began to think about what she had said. Hundreds of questions raced through his head while he racked his brain for answers. However, the only solution he came up with was leaving. So, without a word Shiro left the room, heading for the stairs. When he got to his room, he saw Akame sitting on the windowsill, watching birds fly by.

"So, it's really happening isn't it? She's really sending you off to die. As soon as you get back, you're gone again, possibly for good," said Akame as she kept her gaze focused on the outside.

"Any time that any of us leave, it could be for good. Nothing is different, I'll be back."

"No, you won't. Come hell or high water, she will make sure that you don't come back."

"And I'm ready to face that. I'll brace myself and walk through hell. I'll swim around the world if that's what it takes."

This seemingly caught her off guard due to the fact she finally turned to look at him. The two teenagers simply stared at each other for several moments before a smile slowly creeped onto their faces.

"Trust me, by the time all is said and done, you'll see me again," stated Shiro confidently.

The only answer to his statement was a nod as Shiro began to pack some of his stuff. Not much of his stuff needed to go with him, so he simply left most of his room as it was when he came back. The only things he did take were tools to sharpen his sword, some spare clothing, and a few mementos such as photos. When he was done packing, he tied up his bag and tossed it on his bed.

"Got everything you'll need?" Questioned Akame.

"Yeah."

"So this is goodbye I guess."

"For now, yes. But, I will be back," he said, trying to reassure his friend of this.

Shiro could tell just by her face that she didn't believe him. Her eyes were that of someone that was worried about the future, worried about how things were going to play out. She physically trembled as she stared kept her gaze away from Shiro. She tried to keep her hands occupied by fiddling about with the end of the sleeve on her jacket. She pulled at some loose threads until they either fell off or broke. When there weren't any loose threads left on he jacket, she began the mess with the hem of it. Such a pointless task such as this, seemed like the most important things to her if it meant not having to watch him go.

Eventually Shiro couldn't take it anymore. He felt as if he was powerless, unable to at the very least set her mind at ease. Then an idea popped into his head, something he didn't think of, something that involved no words, just actions. So he stepped forward and embraced her. A light gasp could be heard from his shoulder as she had no idea what was happening. When it finally hit her, she seemed to relax. Then just a few moments before letting go, he planted a small kiss on her forehead.

By the time a reaction could be made, he was gone. Akame couldn't help but to smile. As she looked out the window, she replayed the moment in her head over and over again.

"You damned well better."

As Shiro descended down the stairs, he too replayed the moment over in his head, along with a single thought. _If only I could've stayed longer. But if I did, I wouldn't have left._ Eventually, he passed the infirmary, where he saw Lubbock's covered body. He had to say goodbye. What kind of friend would he be if he left without saying goodbye to his recently deceased teammate? A horrible one that's what, at least to him. As he approached the body, he tried to think of something to say.

"Hey buddy, it's me, Shiro. Been awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that, been pretty busy as of late. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this when you were alive but, I love you dude. I never had a brother, and I think you were the closest I'd ever get to having one. I'll miss you buddy, rest in peace," said Shiro as he brushed away a tear.

If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn that Lubbock told him to quit being all sappy. He then decided that he'd want to have one more talk with his old friend. In said talk, he told Lubbock everything, absolutely everything. From his time before joining the team, to what had just happened with Akame.

"The reason I did it then? To try and help get her mind off things. Why not stay a little longer? Yeah, I asked myself that too. But a wise man once told me to always leave people wanting so they'll never want you to leave. The guy is dead now. How? He threw a bucket at a monster the size of his house because it stepped on his garden. So now that I think of it, he wasn't really very wise."

Shiro eventually ran out of things to say and said his farewells and left. He didn't see anyone on his way out of the base, so he kept walking. He wanted to say his goodbyes, but he wasn't going to actively search for his teammates. Besides, saying goodbye would make them think he wasn't going to try to come back. Continuing on his way out, he stopped by the kitchen. Inside he saw 'Bro', whom he didn't converse with often. He went to the fridge to get what would be his last meal in the Night Raid base for quite a while. As he fixed a small bag of food for the road, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw 'Bro' staring down at him.

"That's not yours. Put it back," he said commandingly.

"So I'm suppose to hope I come across a generous person to give me food? Because I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we haven't been paid for last month. And all things considered, I doubt I will be paid now. Besides, all my money has to go toward maintaining my gear, so I don't exactly have the money to go buy food for myself. Heck, I didn't even know I was getting kicked out till you guys did, so it's not like I was given a chance to prepare."

"You were told to leave, so get out."

"Bulat, that's enough. He has as much of a right to that food as you and I. He's being sent to another location, not being kicked out," stated Najenda as she entered the kitchen.

 _So his name is Bulat? I'll have to remember that._

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Here is your destination and how you will receive missions. When not on a mission, do your best to blend in, or not, it's up to you. You may take some provisions for the journey, no more. We still have people to feed here."

Looking over a map and determining how long it would take to get to his destination, he packed. He took enough food for the trip and an extra day's worth of food in case anything happened. After he finished packing, he shot a glare at Bulat as he walked out the door. Although the man was twice his size, and probably twice as physically strong as him, Shiro knew he could beat him in a fight. Out of pure arrogance, Shiro slammed into Bulat's shoulder as he past. Even though he wasn't knocked over or anything, an unsaid message was received. It was the kind of message that was basically, "I'm better than you, and we both know it". As Shiro continued down the hall to the exit, he could almost feel how mad Bulat became at the action, and he smirked.

Eventually he made it outside, where he saw the pink wonder, Mein. She sat at a table cleaning her rifle, which she affectionately called "Pumpkin". A quick look was exchanged between the two as Shiro kept walking. The look the two exchanged was that of thanks and goodbyes. Suddenly, Shiro stopped in the middle of the path away from the base, catching Mein's attention.

"Oh, and Mein," started Shiro.

"Yes?"

"Make sure they know I'll be back."

She simply laughed and replied, "Sure thing. Not sure if the boss will let you though."

"Well, she won't have a choice in the matter."

Mein smirked at how arrogant her teammate could be and waved goodbye, "Good luck."

As Shiro continued on his trek to his new, and hopefully temporary home, the Night Raid base got smaller and smaller before finally disappearing entirely. No turning back, no begging to stay, none of that. He was going to show he was incontrol. He was going to prove that he was no one's puppet to be used and tossed aside when not needed. He then took one final glance back in the direction of the place, that to him would always remain his home, before once and for all turning away.

 _I made a promise, and I aim to keep it._


	8. Chapter 8

_December 11_ _th_ _, 752 10:16 AM_

Finally, after several days on the road, Shiro made it to his new home, in the imperial capital. When he first saw his destination, he was shocked before realizing that he was being sent to maintain the group's presence. Night Raid needed some way to operate in the capital, and he was that way. He was comforted that he was actually being tasked with something import, rather than just "do these meaningless missions that will be extremely hard and will get us nowhere until you die".

Eventually he remembered he should get to work on making his new home remotely liveable. From what he saw, the roof looked like it would cave in if a slightly heavy storm rolled through. The walls were almost falling apart and the floor was so dusty, he could almost not see all the things moving around on the floor, emphasis on almost. The rooms in general weren't much better either with the bed having a broken leg and the bathroom having a toilet that looked like someone tried unclogging it from the side, with a sledgehammer. Sighing heavily, and trying to not get too far behind in his work, he then started trying to fix the place up.

After several hours of hard work, the dust and whatever was under it was gone, the bed was fixed and the place looked almost liveable. Shiro looked proud of what he had done to his new home. Then he remembered he wasn't finished yet. He then looked up, only to see the old ramshackle roof shaking in the stiff wind. Knowing that with how cold it was, it could snow at any moment, and it would be quite the unwelcome surprise to wake up to. Then, with a heavy sigh, he left to find something to reinforce or fix the roof.

 _December 17_ _th_ _, 752 6:47 PM_

It took several days and just as many cold nights spent on only a mattress, but he finally did it. Shiro finally finished fixing up his home. His roof was no longer rattling in the wind, the floor no longer hid bugs and such, and his bed actually had all four legs. Sadly, there was more things that occupied his mind even after completion. These were things like: "What do I do next?" "How will I get money for food and such?" "When will my first mission be?" and so on and so forth. Finally though after several hours of thinking, he decided to atleast try to blend in and get a job.

 _December 25_ _th_ _, 752 11:51 PM_

"Thanks again for the supper sir!" yelled Shiro as he left his place of work.

"You're very much welcome Shiro, you've been quite the help, so it's the least we could do!" replied an older man that was standing in the doorway that Shiro had just exited from.

"Well it's very much appreciated! I'll see you at work tomorrow!"

"I'll see you then."

And with that, Shiro walked further down the street before making a turn.

"Hypocritical jerk. Night Raid is the embodiment of everything wrong? Open your eyes you old coot. First he says the revolution is a good thing, then he says Night Raid is a bad thing. We are the revolution you old geezer."

As Shiro made his way home, he continued his rant, not caring who heard him. For all he cared, the emperor could hear him and he wouldn't care. After sitting through several hours of his boss and his wife ranting about politics and young people, he felt he deserved a bit of ranting himself.

Eventually, he sighed, _Well this was a pretty crappy Christmas. But then again how many good ones have I had since then?_

He expected an answer of sorts but wasn't very surprised when he didn't get one. Heck, it had been quite a while since Yoshiharu so much as spoke to him. _Maybe he's gone for good… No, he's not._

"Clever boy," spoke Yoshiharu, as if he was hiding in the shadows of his mind.

"Shut up."

"What? You lure me out to talk to you, and then want me to go away? Make up your mind."

"Did I fucking stutter!? I said shut up. It's two simple words."

"Fine kid. But just because I don't speak, doesn't mean I'm gone."

"Yeah, I don't need you to remind me," Shiro said with a huff.

A few minutes later, he saw his house, but took a quick left turn. He then began taking random turns until he came to an open area in a church square. This is where he stopped and stood for several minutes before turning around.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" demanded Shiro.

He received no answer as he stared down a figure in a long coat with the face obscured. They made no attempt to retreat or get closer, and made no sudden movements. The two just stared at each other and before long, the figure lifted its' hood, revealing a woman with black hair and dull gray eyes. Her expression was that of Akame's when on a mission, expressionless enough to not give away any sort of thoughts or details about her.

"I see that you noticed me following you. Oh well, it won't really matter soon enough."

Shiro then let out a sigh, "Why is it that everytime someone follows me, it's to kill me? Honestly, why can't it just be someone that needs a hand or something. I'm honestly getting sick of it," as he was saying this, he took off his coat, revealing his sword and pulled his mask over his face.

"Wow, haven't heard that one before. How many times have you been followed like this?"

"In the past year, I've counted sixteen times."

"Well then, think of it this way, this'll be the last," she said as she raised her hand. Soon after, her fingertips started glowing and dozens of duplicates appeared around them.

"I sure hope so."

With that, Shiro drew his sword, causing the duplicates to all come charging in. There may have been a lot more of them, but they all seemed to be as dumb as a sack of rocks, falling to a simple sidestep or toss. This went on for about ten minutes before Shiro decided enough was enough and started using his sword to put the clones down for the count, speeding things up. When they were all down, Shiro hadn't broken a sweat as he sent a death glare at his opponent.

"Anything else?"

"More than you think."

With that, figures appeared on every single rooftop that was nearby. It was quite obvious to Shiro that these weren't clones considering there were so many of them. He watched as each of them drew their swords and jumped off the roofs one by one. They all seemed to be dressed the same in a set of black armor with gray clothes barely showing underneath. Each of them seemed to be wielding a sword of some sort, whether it be a katana, a greatsword, a straight sword, etcetera.

Shiro simply sighed before re entering his stance. _This is going to be a long night._

 _December 26_ _th_ _, 752 1:56 AM_

The church square had become a war zone. There was no part of it that didn't have blood or a body part on it. Slowly, Shiro slid the final foe off his sword as he stared at the woman from earlier, who was clearly too terrified to move. The man before her must have just slaughtered at least fifty or so of the empire's finest soldiers without stopping. Then it occurred to her that there was nothing stopping him from adding her to that list. This sent her into a screaming fit as she desperately tried to crawl away, only to be stopped by Shiro stomping on her ankle, snapping it.

"Oops, did I do that?"

"Please don't kill me! I beg of you!"

"Why should I let you go, you'll just go back to your higher ups and report me. I can't have that."

"Please!"

"But, since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you what."

"What?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"You won't feel a thing," replied Shiro as she fell and her head rolled, "Well, at least I hope not."

As Shiro began to stand, all the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins began to wear off and he began to notice every single cut on his body. After a quick once over, he realized his shirt was torn to shreds and whatever was left was soaked with blood. Everything else was in some fairly bad shape as well, even his sword. Then chain that held the orb to his sword was broken about half way down. He began to look around for the orb itself before he finally saw it. It took a moment but eventually he realized that it had been crushed into several pieces. He was extremely confused, wondering what would happen if the orb was destroyed. Would Yoshiharu be released when his prison was destroyed, or did he go with it? Shiro though, at least at that moment, couldn't care less. _If he was still in existence he'd make it known._ Shiro waited for a minute, and received no answer. _Guess he is gone after all._

Then he felt it. His right leg completely gave way, sending him to a single knee and using his sword to keep him standing. As his vision began to get blurrier and blurrier as it began to fade, one thing remained clear in his mind. _I can't die here. I promised._

Then, he fell, in the center of the church square. He wanted to get up, but every muscle in his body refused to do as he said, until everything faded, and he was left in darkness. These should have been his final moments, part of him wished they were. But it was clear to him when he woke up that they weren't.

 _December 28_ _th_ _, 752 9:06 AM_

Shiro woke up, dazed and confused. He started to raise up but his entire being protested, forcing him to lay back down. Before long, he had regained his sight and examined his surroundings. _Everything looks normal. Just looks like a typical peasant house._ As if on cue, a woman entered the room.

"Ah, I see you finally woke up. It's about time." Said a young woman as she entered the room. She was wearing simple clothes which indicated that she was either a peasant or acting like one. Her eyes, were amber, with matching red hair. All the attention she was receiving earned a smile in the direction of the wounded assassin.  
"Who are you?" was all he could ask.  
"I am Reia, Reia Miyamoto." She replied, while slowly removing the man's bandages. "And you are?"  
"My name? I'm, uh, Hideo, Hideo Nagasaki," scrambled Shiro. He couldn't allow her to know his name, she would turn him in for sure.  
"What a fine name. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Nagasaki."  
"No, I must admit, the pleasure is indeed mine. After all, you saved my life. And please call me Hideo." Explained Shiro. _I got to get on her good side if I'm going to be able to get out of here, and back home. I pray Akame doesn't find out about this._  
"Please tell about yourself Mr. Nagasaki. Where are you from? Why were you out in that battlefield?" wondered his savior as she replaced his bandages.  
"Well, I am from a small village to the north. I was sent here to request aid from the empire. When some locals found out, they attacked me in hopes of taking my offering to the prime minister."  
"And that's why you killed them?"  
"Yes, but I had no choice. Once they got what they wanted, I would've been killed." Pleaded Shiro.

"I can understand that, it's survival of the fittest here. Kill or be killed." Said Reia as a gloomy look overcame her expression and a hint of sadness entered her voice.  
"Yes, it is from what I've seen."  
"Well on a more cheery note, tell me about yourself!" she cried, in an excited tone. She had completely erased any evidence that she had been sad mere moments ago.  
"Well, for starters, I am a swordsman. Which is actually quite obvious due to my sword." To which he gestured towards, in the corner, "I also enjoy cooking, fishing, hunting, and some other things." Shiro continued to talk, and talk about things he didn't do. He did this for several hours, all while his one woman audience listened on.  
"Wow, you've lived such a fascinating life already, and you're only 17!" exclaimed Reia. This caught Shiro off guard, he hadn't told her his age. And even if he did, he would've given her a fake one. But in order to not raise suspicion to his honesty, he played along.  
"Yes, I have. I am 17, but after all this body has been through, I'm more like 35." He chuckled.  
Then a knock came at the door, and without a word, Reia scurried off to answer it. She came back with a smile on her face, and an old man in tow. "This is him doctor."

Without warning, the old man began removing Shiro's bandages, revealing his silver eye and red eyes respectively, earning a gasp from Reia. As he continued removing bandages, he only found scars.  
"Miss, I thought you said he was badly wounded. I only see large scars and the like." Stated the doctor.  
"I swear, he was covered in cuts and blood and everything when I found him! I cleaned him up and that's all!" exclaimed Reia.  
"Well that's surely not the case now. Sir, can you stand up please?" asked the doctor. Frankly, Shiro wasn't sure if he could, he hadn't moved since he had awoken. Afraid of injuring himself, he took his time and got up. It took several moments but, eventually he powered through the soreness. He stood, baffled, before deciding to just go with it and stretch. "Ok, I do not understand why I was requested to be here in this case. There is not a thing wrong with this man, apart from his eye. I shall take me leave." Commented the old man.  
Neither of the two teens spoke. They simply looked at each other, until Reia began jumping for joy. "It works! It works!"  
"What do you mean?" questioned Shiro.  
"A mixture I made! It healed your wounds!" she exclaimed.  
Now becoming suspicious of the now not-so-innocent amber eyed teen, Shiro decided to get his gear and head home, as this woman had something about her that just didn't sit right with him. "Ok, well I'll be going. I'd hate to take up more of your time. Thank you so much Miss Miyamoto," he said with a bow.  
"Oh it was no trouble at all Mr. Nagasaki." replied Reia, playfully mimicking his formality. "If you are ever in the area, feel free to stop by."  
"I just might do that." stated Shiro with a fake smile, "Well, I must be off." He said upon reaching the door. Once he stepped into the outside, the sun burned into his skin, it was only at this that he realized how cold the house he was in was.  
"Have a nice day! Stay safe!" said Reia as she stood in the doorway. "And Hideo," she stated catching Shiro's attention, "you're a terrible liar, Mr. Nagasaki." This confused him, he was completely oblivious of what she was speaking of until she finally told him. "Or should I say Shiro?"  
Shiro's eyes widened and his heart sank, he wasn't in any condition for a fight, which by the looks of it, was soon to begin. "Shiro? What are you talking about?" he replied shakily whilst slowly reaching for the grip if his sword.  
"Oh no need to be so quick to fight. I won't kill you, unless you give me a reason to do so."  
Not letting his guard down, he kept a firm grip on his sword, "What do you want?"  
"Nothing to be honest. At least nothing you can provide me as of this moment. For you to truly give me what I want, you need to live. And you also need to die."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You'll see when the time comes. Now go, run along now. And do please stop by, it gets boring around here."  
With that, Shiro made his back home, all the while, checking over his shoulder constantly.

 _February 12_ _th_ _, 753 9:00 PM_

It has been two months since Shiro had moved to the imperial capital. Overall he wasn't having a terrible time. Ever since he met "Reia", if that even was her real name, he began to notice her popping up everywhere he went. He'd go get groceries, there she'd be, he'd go to work, they'd walk past each other,everywhere he went, she just happened to be there. He attempted to confront her about it, but was told it was mere coincidence. _Bullshit._

Eventually, he simply ignored the fact he was constantly being watched, and went on with his day. He'd go to work, ignore the passing redhead. He'd go on break when she would enter the store, having another employee ring her up. He'd go home, ignoring the stalker following the exact same steps only further behind. And as soon as he'd get home, he'd ignore the person watching him from the roof adjacent to his.

 _May 8_ _th_ _, 753 11:37 AM_

Shiro woke up in a daze with a skull splitting headache. _Great, a hangover, just what I need._ His boss had given him the next week off and took him to a bar since he was now allowed to drink. He was a serious light weight and handled only two glasses. Next thing he knew, he was on his living room floor with a note next to him. Assuming it to be from his boss, he started to read it.

 _Happy Birthday! Sorry I wasn't there in time to tell you in person. By the time I got to the bar, your boss was carrying you home. It took a bit of convincing but I managed to get him to let me take you back to your house. I had to fish your key out of your pocket but I got you in. When I was about to leave you got off the couch and started dancing! If that's you when you're drunk, I need to start spiking your drinks!After about 15 minutes of you dancing with a broom, and me laughing uncontrollably, you passed out. Good luck in the morning!_

 _Sincerely, Reia_

 _P.S. Your boss may or may not think we're a thing. Believe me, not my doing._

"Ugh. I swear I hate that man. Live life while you can he says. You won't regret it he says," huffed Shiro as he slowly stood up to go to his bedroom.

 _August 15_ _th_ _, 753 1:31 AM_

Shiro quickly climbed into his window, barely avoiding being seen. He had been chased for god knows how long after a failed attempt on an imperial captain's life. It wasn't that he wasn't good enough to take down his target, it was that he was severely out numbered in a closed space. Not to mention the fact he was without an imperial arms. He had attempted to get in contact with Night Raid, to let them know, but to no avail. However, they still get in contact with him in different ways. Letters, cryptic notes at work, even newspapers with names and dates circled. He never was contacted directly by them though. Not even Akame had personally contacted him. He knew nothing about what was going on in Night Raid, who was doing what, if any of them had changed, or if any had kicked the bucket. The thought of his friends off dying somewhere without him knowing, scared the hell out of him. _I've got to get back to them._

 _August 21_ _st_ _, 753 3:28 PM_

Shiro was at an impasse. He didn't have an imperial arms, therefore wasn't equipped to be able to complete any missions sent his way. He also had no way of getting a new one because he couldn't get in touch the Revolutionary army to request a new one. Frustrated, he began to go through all of his stuff to see if there was a way to get in touch with them. He searched everything: dressers, cabinets, bags, pockets, etcetera. The only thing he found were orders and a ring in one of his pants pockets, to which he paid no mind and went to do a double sweep. When he came back though, he peered down at said ring and saw it was glowing a bright red.

Curiosity taking over, he picked it up, and instantly regretted it. As soon as it touched the palm of his skin, he felt it burn into his hand, causing him to pop it into the air, catch it in his hand and repeat the process. Strangely after a few minutes, the ring no longer glowed or burned him. After this, he tossed it from one hand to the other before simply putting it on his finger. When he did, it quickly started burning him once again.

After several minutes, it finally cooled off, allowing him to catch his breath. At first he didn't even notice he was screaming. He only noticed it when it stopped hurting. Upon catching his breath, he decided to not put up with it, and tried to pull it off. That failed due to it being burned through his skin and fused with his bone. It was then that he realized that what he had on his finger, was an imperial arms. One that wouldn't be going away so easily.

 _November 7_ _th_ _, 753 5:34 AM_

Months had passed since Shiro had last been contacted for a mission. Did they think he was dead? Is it because he failed a mission? He had no clue and this really took a toll on him. All of this kept him awake for nights on end. If he did manage to get to sleep, then he'd typically wake up in a cold sweat after a painfully realistic nightmare. Eventually, he started just not going to sleep and simply passing out from pure exhaustion.

The nightmares were always different in some way or another. But they always shared something, they involved someone he cared deeply about. Sometimes it would be Sheele, or Mein, or Akame and so on and so forth. Heck, a few times it was his mother and father, except since he couldn't remember their faces, they were just pits of darkness. But the one he hated the most, was a recurring one about Akame. It took place at the Night Raid base, when Shiro decides to go against Najenda and return. It's then he finds Akame and everyone else strewn about. Shiro runs to each before Akame torments him with, "Why weren't you here? You promised me you'd come back."

 _December 1_ _st_ _, 753 10:41 PM_

It took a few months, but Shiro felt he was finally prepared to use it in battle. He had to alter his fighting style drastically, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. One move he was particularly fond of was where he created a type of dome around himself out of fire. The cool thing about it was that if he needed to, he could make the dome explode outwards, incinerating everything within a 40 feet radius. Another awesome side effect is that he couldn't be burned anymore, evident by his ability to set himself on fire to fight in close quarters.

After a few moments of making sure he was ready, Shiro made his way to the roof of his home. When he did, he saw some people running across buildings in the distance. Intrigued, he followed. After about half an hour of following them, they came to a stop at the wall of the inner city, where the emperor's palace was situated. Making sure they didn't know he was there, he snuck up on them. He was shocked at the sight.

 _Oh my god…_


	9. Chapter 9

_December 1_ _st_ _, 753 11:27 PM_

Shiro was shocked to see that the remainder of Night Raid was standing in front of him. Leone, Bulat, Mein, Sheele, Najenda, and Akame stood next to the wall, talking in hushed voices. Without thinking, he got out of his hiding spot, to the shock of Night Raid. This caused them to aim their weapons at him.

"Woah guys, it's me! Shiro!" he blurted out to try to get them to drop their weapons.

"Shiro is dead. Now tell us who you really are!" exclaimed Leone as she stared down the shadowy figure.

"No, guys it's really me!" replied Shiro out of panic as he stepped out of the shadows.

After a few moments, Akame spoke up, "You look nothing like him. Yes you have some similarities, but very small ones."

This really hit Shiro hard as he expected Akame of all people to recognize him. Sure he had grown his hair out a bit and was a lot tanner but not that much had changed about him, did it? He then started thinking about anyway of proving he was who he said he was.

He held up his necklace.

"You stole that from his body didn't you?" asked Mein.

He showed them scars of his that they knew Shiro had.

"Coincidence," stated Bulat.

He even started naming off things that only he would know about each of them.

"Wow, stalker much?" said Leone.

"Give it up, there's no way you're Shiro. He died almost one year ago, less than a month after he was reassigned!" screamed Akame as she shot a death glare at Najenda.

"Akame, I don't see why you still consider me to be the blame for his death. He wasn't on a mission. Heck, I hadn't even sent him his first mission."

"You sent him here to get rid of him! You knew he wouldn't be able to keep going forever!" exclaimed Akame as she turned her full attention to the cause of her anger.

"Boss, you made him a target," chirped Leone, much more calmly than Akame.

"If you weren't so eager to get rid of him, maybe he'd still be alive," continued Akame.

"I am alive."

"No, you're an imposter," stated Akame calmly, as if barely caring that he had spoken.

"I promised you that I'd come back. But you beat me to it and found me, indirectly."

Akame paused, before quickly turning to throw a wild punch. To her surprise, she didn't connect with his face, it connected with his palm as he caught it in a gentle grip.

"Akame, I know you too well for that to work. We trained together for a total of three-hundred and forty seven hours-"

"Twenty six minutes and thirteen seconds," they finished in unison.

"And the thirteen seconds-"

"Was the first time we trained together."

Leone just grinned from ear to ear as she stared at the "imposter".

"Only Akame and Shiro would keep track of that," she said.

"I swear, if you really are Shiro, I am going to hurt you," threatened Akame.

"Yep, in the flesh!" he said proudly before realizing, "Wait, why?"

"Because you promised! Then you went and made me think you were dead! Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep going? I've been through enough heartbreak already," she said as he was enveloped into a hug, "Please don't make me go through it again," she whispered.

"Trust me, I won't. There isn't anything or anyone on this planet that could make me do that to you," he replied in a much softer tone than before.

Silence enveloped the entire group for quite a while until the two teenagers separated.

"Tell me though, how did you come back anyhow?" she questioned.

"Some girl named Reia took me in and patched me up. Said something about needing me alive and dead, whatever that means."

"Reia what? She give you her last name?" asked Leone in a demanding tone.

"Miyamoto I think, why?"

Silence and shocked engulfed the group. Everyone looked at each other, hoping they had the answer to a question that had gone unasked. Then it hit Shiro like a ton of bricks. In the original base, his room use to be someone else's room. Reia's room. He remembered when he got the room, Leone said it was hers, but never explained why it wasn't anymore. Naturally, he assumed she had fallen in battle and no one wanted to talk about it, but this indicated much more.

"Guys," said Shiro, breaking the silence, "What exactly happened to Reia?"

No one answered.

"Seriously, someone tell me."

"She's suppose to be dead. Like you. She was essentially you, except genderswapped. Lived a crappy life, gained our interest and joined, had an imperial arms with a soul attached to it that made her a liability. Eventually, she almost killed us all on a mission, which forced us to fight back. In the end, we won. Whether by strength and skill, or pure, blind, luck, I can't really say," stated Najenda in a somber tone.

"She died that day. I know she did, because I killed her with my own hands. How could she come back? Can the world not leave her be?" mumbled Leone as she began the fidget.

"And why would she need you to live and to die? It makes no sense," noted Mein.

"Maybe she needs him to live to aid in her goals, and die to make sure he can't stop her," said Sheele.

"That would make sense," said Akame as she racked her brain for an answer.

"Now do you see why I wasn't willing to take the chance on you?" asked Najenda.

"Yes, I do," replied Shiro.

"Where is your imperial arms anyway?" questioned Leone.

"Oh lord, don't tell me you came out here unarmed," said Najenda in shock.

"Oh, that's a long story. To make it short, the orb that contained Yoshiharu was destroyed, killing him and the sword was damaged beyond repair in that fight I "died" in."

"Really? It couldn't be that simple, could it?" asked Akame.

"It was. There hasn't been any reason for me to think otherwise," answered Shiro.

"And you're sure it killed him? I don't want to be surprised by a third person coming back to life," said Najenda.

"I can't be sure about that, but he is definitely out of my head," proclaimed Shiro.

"So he could still be out there for all we know?" questioned Bulat.

"Yes, after all, we don't know what would happen if the orb was destroyed."

It took a few moments of silence before anyone said another word.

"So, why are you guys here anyways?" asked Shiro.

Everyone looked at Najenda before she finally replied.

"We were given the go ahead. Today is the day we finish this."

Shiro paused, considering what to say next, "Need another hand?"

Everyone grinned from ear to ear, "It just so happens we got room for one more in the plan."

"So what's the plan?"

 _December 2_ _nd_ _, 753 2:10 AM_

Slowly, and carefully Shiro scaled the final wall between him and his destination. Leone had already gotten to the top along with Sheele and Mein and tried to decide on the easiest path to the target entrance they were told to take, a storage room window on the third floor. It took a few minutes and a bit of bickering before we agreed on a way of approaching. We had decided to take the shortest path to the wall and scale it to the correct floor before shimmying over to the window on a small outcropping between the second and third floors.

When they got to the wall, Leone and Shiro waited at the base of it while Sheele and Mein climbed up. When they were finally at the window, Shiro and Leone made their way up and over to it. Once they were ready to finally enter, the window wouldn't budge.

"It's supposed to be unlocked!" said Mein in a hushed yell.

"Maybe our guy on the inside couldn't unlock it without being caught?" proposed Sheele.

"Or he got caught," suggested Shiro.

"It doesn't matter, either way, we need into this room. Someone pick the lock," commanded Leone.

"Ok, Leone scoot over a bit," said Shiro.

As she scooted away from the window, Shiro quickly dropped off the ledge and turned to grab it, when he did he hang shimmied his way under her and onto the open space between her and the window since Sheele and Mein were on the opposite side of the window. As he got up to the window, he created a small flame on the end of his finger and melted the lock off the window. He then pushed the window inwards, making it swing widely. The others looked at him with eyes full of shock, and amazement.

"Well that's a useful trick," said Leone as she climbed through the window.

"I've got plenty more where that came from," stated Shiro as he followed.

When they were all inside, they went back over the plan and split up. Shiro and Sheele went to block off an escape route in the north wing conference room while Mein and Leone did the same with the east wing library. The plan was that everyone that wasn't blocking an escape route would make enough commotion for the emperor and prime minister to try and escape through one of the two block routes. They'd either try and run or try to get through. Either way they would end up dead and Night Raid will have finally won.

As Shiro and Sheele were waiting to encounter their targets, Leone came sprinting towards them. Confused, they waited for her to catch her breath and asked why she was away from her post.

"Change of plans. They went into the dungeon, we think there's an escape route down there. We need to hurry!" Leone blurted out.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" yelled Shiro as he broke into a sprint.

Quickly, the three assassins made it to the dungeon and down the steps. Upon arrival, they each felt their stomachs lurch forward at the sight in front of them. All around them were cells filled with the rotting corpses that invaded the air with their horrendous stench. Forcing themselves to continue forward, they came across several torture rooms, each covered in blood and filled with a foul smell. Surprisingly, the further in they got, the less it smelled and less corpses were found. Eventually, they began seeing live captives, however with them being so close to finally toppling the empire they couldn't stop to free them. _We'll come back, I promise._

A few minutes later, they could see sparks flying in the faint light of the dungeon. Speeding up, the reached a battle between Bulat, Akame, and Mein and about two dozen of the emperor's royal guards. From where they stood, it was obvious that Night Raid was losing just by how badly they were wounded. Bulat was bleeding so much that it flowed down his arm and torso from between the plates of his armor. Mein was using the wall as a support as she fired "Pumpkin". And Shiro could tell Akame was much slower that usual and could see half a dozen open wounds. _These guys are good._ Out of instinct, Shiro quickly jumped between the two forces before they could clash again.

"Get back!" he screamed.

As soon as they heard him, Night raid got back a ways just before Shiro sent a massive wave of fire in the direction of the royal guards. Being in an enclosed space, they had nowhere to go, and had no choice but to be burnt to a crisp. However, a problem soon arose as the flaming remains of the soldiers blocked the way and in the distance the prime minister and emperor could be seen running.

Hoping for the best, Shiro sprinted through the fire and gave chase as the rest of Night Raid looked for an alternate path. After several minutes of following them, he came to a dead end. There was no trace of the two people he was chasing and he hadn't seen a turn prior to the dead end.

"Where the he-" he began before he was hit in the back of the head with a bar.

When he came to, he immediately noticed the chains connecting him to the wall. He struggled to break free before realizing it was pointless. Then he saw him, the man that was the main priority, the man they had to take down at any cost, the prime minister. He was the main target due to the fact he was the one calling the shots. This was because the emperor was a young, impressionable child that had simply inherited the throne. Without the prime minister, the empire might actually be able to heal.

"Ah, Shiro. It has been far too long my boy," said the prime minister in a casual tone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" replied Shiro in a very aggressive manner.

The prime minister ignored him, "If I remember correctly it's been almost 18 years since I've seen you. Well, let me rephrase that, since I saw your mother when she was pregnant with you."

"What?"

Finally acknowledging Shiro, "Oh yes, me and your mother knew each other quite well, were even engaged. That is until I found out she had an affair with your father, the man I had trusted as the royal guard captain. Oh you can imagine just how furious I was when I found out they had run off together. I had villages burned to the ground, possible conspirators tortured, everything I could do to find them I did. And I finally found them, seven years ago. Sadly though, your father wasn't there and my soldiers are absolute imbeciles so you two weren't caught."

"So that's why you burned my village to the ground? That's why you kidnapped my mother and put a target on my back?"

"Yes. You're a clever one boy. I needed leverage to draw your father out. And that's exactly what I did," he then turns around and lights a torch in the cell across from Shiro's, revealing both his mother and father, "Now, I'm going to destroy them both."

"I swear, you harm a hair on their heads and I will paint the walls with your insides!" screamed Shiro in a fit of rage.

"Oh, but who said I was going to? I'm going to destroy them, through you," replied the prime minister as he swung the bar into Shiro's gut. He then proceeded to beat Shiro to a pulp, switching up his attacks from his stomach to his head or chest, all the while his parents begged for mercy.

Then, after what seemed like hours, he received no reaction to his swings. There was no more coughing up blood, or wheezing from lack of air, or even grunts of pain from repeated swings. A steadily growing pool of blood could be seen amassing below Shiro as he remained in his partial sitting position, restrained to the wall.

"Well, I suppose it is kind of like beating a dead horse at this point. No I suppose the question is, who's next?" asked the prime minister as he strolled across the hall to the opposite cell.

However, he soon fell as a beam from Mein's imperial arms severed his leg from his body. Not long after that, the rest of Night Raid were on the prime minister, like a pack of wolves taking down their prey.

"It's over prime minister. Or should I say, Oshoku," said Najenda with a smirk.

Oshoku just growled at the use of his name. He despised his birth name, thought it made him seem weak, therefore having people address him by title, in order to remind people of his power. He then turned his attention to his severed leg, surprised he hadn't bled out yet.

"You're not getting out of this that easy. Pumpkin here fires beams hot enough to take off your limb and cauterize the wound before it can even bleed a drop," remarked Mein triumphantly.

Then they heard it, sobbing. Akame then took a look around, confused as to why she could hear sobbing. It wasn't long before she noticed the couple in the shadows of the cell Oshoku was heading to, was the source.

She approached, lightly putting her hand on the woman' shoulder, "Miss, it's going to be okay, you're safe now."

"No, it's not! Don't you understand? He killed him! Right in front of us! Our own flesh and blood, beaten to death by that,"she paused, "by that monster."

As the woman went back to crying her eyes out, Akame tried to wrap her head around what she had been told. _Keywords: in front of us. That could only mean-_ her thoughts were cut off when she had turned to face the opposite cell. _Oh no._ She slowly shambled over to the opposite cell, shocked and afraid of what she saw. When she had made it to the figure in the cell, she collapsed. She couldn't believe it, she had only recently been spared from his death, and now she was certainly experiencing the real thing.

Before she knew it, tears had already begun to fall as she crawled closer, and unchained him. Upon doing so, his body dropped, like a sack of potatoes, straight into her arms. He was limp, lifeless, his arms drooped by her sides as she held him upright. She listened for a heartbeat, but found none.

Several minutes passed, Shiro's parents were freed and grieved alongside Akame. The three sat side by side, holding onto the corpse as if they tried hard enough, he'd come back to life.

"Why? Why'd he have to take him? Why my baby boy? Please god, why?" cried out his mother.

"I can't believe he's gone," stated his father. Even though it had happened right in front of him, he still could not believe what happened, he didn't want to.

"Shiro. I never got to tell you this. And I hope you can hear me now, I love you," babbled Akame in between sobs.

It took a few more minutes before any of them spoke again.

"We should get out of here. There's no way my boy's final resting place will be down here," said Shiro's father in a shaky voice.

With a nod, they each helped carry him out of the dungeon. After a few hours of walking, they finally got outside and laid him down.

"He looks so peaceful, doesn't he? Almost like he wasn't involved in any of this,"said Akame suddenly.

"Who are you anyway? Are you like, friends with him?" asked Shiro's father.

A small but sad smile came across her face, "Something like that. We never got a chance to really figure that out."

"Oh, so you two were together?"

Akame's face quickly turned to the same shade of red as her eyes as she examined the question, "I guess. Maybe. Like I said, we never really figured it out."

"Ah, so I guess it's too much to hope that we're going to be grandparents isn't it?" asked Shiro's father, trying to make everyone a bit more relaxed.

Akame's face stayed the same as she hid it in embarrassment, however, his wife looked at him with a deadpan expression before swiftly slapping him.

"Our son was just murdered and you're making jokes!?" she screamed.

"I guess I see where he gets his humor and terrible timing from," said Akame.

Before they could respond, Leone came running.

"Guys, we need to go! Now!"

"What? Why? What's going on?" asked Akame.

"The emperor got to it. He got to the-" she was cut off.

Suddenly, the castle collapsed in a flash and some strange structure rose from the rubble.

"What the hell is that thing!?" screamed Shiro's father.

"That, is the ultimate teigu. It's the ultimate weapon. And only those of the royal bloodline can use it," said Leone.

"What do we do?"

"You, run. We'll do whatever it takes to give you guys time."

Akame took one last look at the body of Shiro, her friend, before taking on her stoic look that sent fear down her enemies spines. The scariest look anyone could ever see, is the look of indifference on the face of someone that can and probably will kill you in a few moments. That was the way she saw it.

Quickly, the two assassins ran to make their way to the threat, leaving Shiro's body behind while his parents ran the opposite way. Sprinting up the arms of the teigu, Akame and Leone dodged repeated attempts to throw them off. Eventually they made it to the faceplate of the colossal contraption and started attacking. This seemed to only annoy the emperor as he swatted away Leone, and grabbed Akame in a death grip, slowly crushing her. In her seemingly final moments, she turned her head to where Shiro's body laid. _Is he… Glowing?_

Down in the small garden he had been laid in, Shiro's body caught fire. From a distance, it looked as if he was simply glowing, but in reality, he was being burned. As the fire spread all over his body, he started to crumble into ash. And once he had been completely disintegrated, the only thing that remained, was the ring. Then after a few short moments, the dull gray ashes began to glow a bright red, like the embers of a fire. Slowly, the ashes began to all come together and reform a body. It started with the ring finger, then the arm and progressed until his body was once again, whole.

Eventually, he opened his eyes to see the most horrific thing he could ever think of. He saw a massive armored machine standing in place of the emperor's castle, crushing Akame. Struggling to get up, he stumbled a bit before charging towards it. Somehow, it had noticed him, and with its free hand, tried to smash him. Lucky for Shiro, it may have been big and powerful, but it was slow enough to dodge.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shiro climbed onto the machine's arm and began to run up it. Being as it only had one arm free, it had to drop Akame to try and swat away Shiro. When it did, Leone was thankfully ready to make the catch. Still dodging the massive machine's hands, Shiro eventually made it to the faceplate. Sadly, just as he did, a hand grabbed him, restricting his movement. It held him up to where a pair of eyes would usually be, and just stared at him.

Seeing the lack of action as a chance to attack, he charged up and released everything he had in one massive explosion. This did more damage than he had thought and soon the teigu came crashing down in pieces. The hand he had been held in was completely gone, the faceplate was completely destroyed, revealing where the operator would be. However, due to the smoke, they were obscured.

In a last ditch effort to avoid being crushed, he grabbed a hold of the teigu and climbed until he was on its head. Upon reaching it, he waited for it to hit the ground and just before it did, he jumped. He jumped from about two stories off the ground and rolled when he hit it. Then there was the crash of the giant teigu. For miles, the ground shook like an earthquake. Buildings collapsed, trees fell, and even the walls of the city cracked. After a few dozen minutes, the dust settled, and the remains of Night Raid approached. Akame, being helped by Leone as Najenda made sure no more surprises would occur.

"Where is everyone else?" asked a familiar voice between coughs.

This put everyone on edge as they had no clue who it was. However, the closer the person got, the more familiar he became. The one thought that ran through Akame's mind was, _You have to be kidding me_. When the person got about ten feet from them, it was obvious it was Shiro. Akame went to move towards him and Leone began to help until she received a look that said to let her do it alone. Slowly but surely, she got to him and they stared each other down. And just as Shiro reached for a hug, he felt a hard slap come across his face.

"Ok, why?" he asked.

The response he then received, didn't exactly shock him. It was another slap. And another. And another. The slaps just kept coming until, she collapsed. Even then however, it was jus a non stop assault of fists into Shiro's stomach.

Shiro just looked down at her, the dirt in his hair falling at such a motion. Kneeling, he held onto his friend as she repeatedly swung at him. After several minutes, it stopped. There was no crying, no yelling, no whispered confessions, there was only silence. The two sat there before finally, Akame ripped her way out of his grasp and tried standing.

"Shiro. Enough is enough. I'm tired of all of this. I'm tired of us being split up. I'm tired of us being forced apart. I'm tired of worrying. I'm tired of crying over you. I'm tired of everything."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying if things keep going this way, there's no way I'll be able to handle it."

"Akame. Things aren't going to keep happening like they have been."

"How would you know? It's not like you know the future."

"I know because I'm done."

"Done? Done with what?"

"This," he gestured all around him as if it were obvious, "I'm done being an assassin, I'm done with the fighting, the injuries, the long nights of worrying about what's around the next corner. I'm done with Night Raid. I've done my part. I want nothing to do with the new government. In a way, I guess I'm retiring."

"So you think you can just walk away from it all? Like it's that easy? It's not, I've tried. Before you know it, it'll pull you right back in like a bad habit."

"You say that like we're the same. And in a way you're right. But you're also wrong. Yes, we both didn't have much of a choice, but, you were trained all your life to be the perfect weapon, while I on the other hand became what I am out of necessity. So of course it'll be harder for you to give it all up, it's all you know," he said matter of factly.

Akame stayed silent, trying to think of what to say, before simply taking a step towards Shiro and saying, "Shiro, before we met, I only cried once. Since we met, I lost track of how many times I have, whether it be thinking you were dead or whatever the case may be. You're right, it is all I know. If you can promise me a normal and less worrisome life, I'll come with you."

"I can't promise that, but I can promise I'll die trying-"

"No, I don't want that, I want you to promise me you WON'T die. Trust me, I've had enough of you dying to last me several lifetimes," she said in a pleading voice.

Shiro thought for a moment, before finally stating, "I can do that."

A small smile came across Akame's face as she stared up at Shiro and his mismatched eyes, "You better."

As the two embraced, Shiro looked at the Najenda, "You never answered my question."

"MIA," she said plainly, "Officially at least. They went "missing" when we chased the emperor into the bowels of the castle and that giant monstrosity got activated. You can guess the odds of surviving a head on attack from that thing without anyway to dodge it."

Shiro had a look of shock on his face as he didn't expect them to be wiped out so easily. It took a moment before he finally regained his composure and spoke up, "I can't believe it. I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"Don't be, there's nothing you could've done anyway. There's nothing anyone could've done, so don't feel bad. Besides, I'm sure they're in a better place."

A smile came across his face at the thought, "Yeah, I'm sure they are."

"Get to the medical tent you two, and get checked out."

Both just nodded and made their way to said tent.

 _December 7_ _th_ _, 752 10:08 AM_

A small crowd gathered at the gate of the city as two people prepared to leave once and for all. The crowd mostly consisted of Leone, Najenda, and a few others.

"You two sure you want to do this?" asked Leone with a worried face.

"Positive," replied Akame as she tied down her belongings to her horse, "I've always thought a normal life was out of my reach, but now I have a chance to have one. I can't pass up this opportunity, I'm sorry."

"No, there's no need to be sorry," sobbed Leone, "it's just that, I'll miss you two."

"Don't worry bud, we'll be sure to write. Maybe we'll even come visit every so often," assured Shiro as he finished his preparation.

"I'm sorry to say that, visits will not be possible. Seeing as Night Raid was an assassination group, what we did was still illegal. I've managed to keep Leone here out of the records as a member, but you two are far too well known for that to be possible. I'm sorry. I wish I could do more for you," said Najenda with a solemn look.

"It's ok, we know you would help in any way you could, thank you," replied Shiro with a smile.

A few moments later, the two had already mounted their horses and were about to ride off. They repeatedly checked their gear, as if stalling.

"So, this is it. You two sure you don't want to go for another round of celebratory drinks?" pleaded Leone, as if trying to convince them to stay for a few more moments.

Shiro chuckled, "Leone, we all know that you'd be the one drinking and we'd be the ones dragging you home."

"Well, it was worth a shot. It's not like I'll get another chance to ask."

"Yeah, I know. Good luck, and goodbye," said Shiro.

"Bye! We'll miss you!" screamed Leone as she finally burst into tears.

"We'll miss you too!" yelled Akame surprisingly.

After that, the two finally rode off as what remained of their friends waved goodbye.

 _December 11_ _th_ _, 752 3:56 PM_

Slowly, the door to a small home opened, and a young couple entered. They slowly entered, trying to examine the room, even in total darkness. Then one set the fireplace ablaze with a flick of his wrist and illuminated the entire living room.

One of the two people, was a young man, with jet black hair and mismatched eyes. His face turned to that of shock and amazement as he examined the nicely furnished home he had been mysteriously given. It then turned to one of pride as he turned to his companion, a woman. She was no older than he was, and had similar black hair, but the irises her eyes were eerily red. She had a look of wonder and joy as she examined the room before running around the house, taking in every detail.

Eventually, she stopped, back in the living room and stared at her significant other. He had this smile that just made her heart flutter.

"So, like it?" he asked as if there was a chance she wouldn't.

She didn't answer, she just walked up and almost tackled him in a hug, "Like it? I love it."

"Good," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"For making my dream come true. My dream to have a normal life."

"Your welcome."

"Shiro, I have something to say to you," she started.

"So do I," he cut in.

"Ok both of us at the same time."

"Ok."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"I love you," they said in unison.

Then, there was silence between the two as they stared at each other. And finally, in a sudden moment of passion, they finally kissed. Then after a few moments of no air, they broke apart and gasped for air.

"Well, maybe we should get our things inside," started Shiro.

"Yeah, definitely," replied Akame.

And with that, they went back outside, to get their belongings, and more importantly, start their new life.

 **A/N- There it is. Technically, it's done. But I know that if you made it this far, you're probably wondering about a lot of the unresolved parts of the story, including but not limited to: Esdeath, Shiro's parents, and so one and so forth. I'll probably wait a little bit to fill in those blanks just so I know whether to just add onto this with and epilogue or make a full blown sequel. OR if enough people (probably like 10 to 15) show genuine interest in the story, I'll figure something out. So do please let me know if** **you liked the end as it was or if you'd like to see a sequel.** **I truly do appreciate you reading this far though anyway. Please do provide feedback as this is my first story on here and the first story I've ever "completed". Thank you so much again for taking the time to read this.**


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